



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

























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* 















KIDDLE 


CAPTAIN 




E M I N G 


AUTHOR OF “JOE BOWERS,” “ WINKLEBACH’S HOTEL,” ETC. 



/ 


NEW YORK 

JOHN B. ALDEN, PUBLISHER 
1889 







^ • 


i 


Copyright, 1889, 

BY 

A . M . F L K MING. 







CONTENTS 


CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. Prelude, ------ 9 

II. The Captain, ------ 16 

III. The “Boreas” and Crew, - 24 

IY. The Cruise ------ 36 

Y. Frozen In, ----- - 46 

YI. Shipwreck, ------ 55 

VII. Starvation, ------ 61 

VIII. Dutch Court-martialed, Exiled, and Shot, - - 70 

IX. Successful Bear-Hunt, .... go 

X. Swallowed Alive, - - - - 87 

XI. Remarkable Escape, ----- 99 

XII. Land Sighted, 104 

XIII. Kiddle Island and Inhabitants, - - - 114 

XIY. Slavery, - 127 

XV. The Fiery Furnace, ----- 141 

XYI. My Interview, ------ 155 

XVII. Narrow Escapes, - - - - - 166 

XVIII. Buncom Falls and Kiddle’s Tree, - - - 180 

XIX. We Build a Boat, 191 

XX.| Fabulous Rich Placer Mine, - - - 207 

XXL The Fountain of Youth, - - - - 217 

XXII. Monstrous Sea Serpents, ----- 231 

XXIII. Death of Mr. Buncom, - 240 

XXIV. Bahwahgun’s Man of War, - - - - 248 

XXV. Bahwahgun’s Brilliant Victory, 254 

XXVI. Unsuccessful Attempt to Escape, - - - 264 

XXVII. Condemned to Die, ----- 272 

XXVIII. The Kiddle Lode, - - - - - 280 

XXIX. Statue and City of Polaris, 287 

XXX. Loss of the Lucinda, - - - - - 288 

































































































































































































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CAPTAIN KIDDLE 


CHAPTER I. 


PRELUDE. 

Farewell ye mountains drear, 

’Mong thee I’ll no longer roam 
Farewell ye torrents clear 
That roar, seethe and foam. 

Farewell ye deserts bare 
That I’ve wandered o’er; 

Adieu ye skies so fair, 

I’ll behold thee no more. 

This bit of poetical effusion emanated half voluntarily 
from my mind, as I sat in reverie before the huge fire- 
place of my cabin, wherein blazed a warm, cheerful fire 
consuming a huge nut-pine log, listening to the moaning 
of a gale that tossed vehemently the branches of a pine, 
just in front the door. There was nothing remarkable, 
as I readily acknowledge, in listening to the gale, for it had 
buzzed in my ear in seasons of storm with doleful accent 
for the past three years. But this evening in question 
there was something that caused me to experience a sensa- 
tion of sadness, for it was the last night I would ever 
occupy the cabin. On the morrow I intended to break 
camp and abandon algates, so far as I was able to discern, 
the nomadic life of a prospector. In the morning, with 
much reluctance, I would bid adieu to a rudely constructed 
stone cabin — my home — that stood in a deep canyon on 
the east slope of Mt. Williamson, one of the loftiest of the 
Sierras. Down this canyon, four or five yards from my door, 
dashed a good-sized stream for this side the mountains, 
furnishing Pap Walker with water to irrigate his ranch, 


10 Captain Kiddle. 

and, besides, a surplus poured into deleterious Owen’s Lake, 
the Dead Sea of our extensive country. As I have already' 
stated, my cabin was rudely constructed. Its walls were 
of undressed stone, laid in adobe mud, after the Mexican 
fashion of building, dirt roof, and floor hewn from the live 
rock. It had one door, facing the east, upon which fell the 
morning sun — that is, soon as old Sol had climbed the logo 
range of mountains to the east, some twenty odd miles. 
At the right of the door was a window, the only one the 
cabin possessed. It was about twelve by twenty-four 
inches, nothing more nor less than the sides and ends of a 
box, that a storekeeper filled with groceries the first Fourth 
of July that I resided here. I celebrated this day with 
great ostentation by coming to town clad in a new suit of 
blue-demin. Instead of a window-pane, a gunny sack 
was substituted, not on account of transparency, but that 
I never took trouble to place in a light. Anyhow, it was 
as good as the window of my nearest neighbor, who, by the 
way, lived in the next canyon four miles to the north. My 
cabin was not handsomely furnished, but far from it. The 
bedstead was of pine saplings tied together with thongs of 
buck-skin from the back of a deer that once came to drink 
from the stream before my door. Poor creature ! it must 
have thought I was away visiting my neighbor, whom I 
visited frequently and he did me the same. Not till after 
a ball from my deadly Winchester rifle had pierced its 
body was it aware of my presence. With a look of amaze- 
ment it glanced at me, sprang headlong, and dropped 
dead on the opposite side the stream. At the head of my 
bed hung a Winchester repeating rifle, breech-loading shot- 
gun, a Colt navy revolver in its, holster, and a hunting 
knife in its sheath. Thus I was armed, according to, the 
old saying u to the teeth,” not for the purpose of doing in- 
jury to or destroying my fellow-man, but for two goodly 
reasons : First, to keep myself supplied with game ; for 
this purpose the shot-gun was undispensable : Second, for 
protection against wild beasts, such as grizzly bear and 
mountain lions. The mountains are infested with these 
ferocious animals. I never killed but one bear, which I 
slew in the same manner as the deer, taking it unaware. 
This made me bold ; at least I considered myself so. The 
next bear I came across, several days afterwards, an old 


Prelude. 


11 


she one with cubs, I fired upon Without deliberate aim l 
Lo ! I missed her by ten yards to the left. After me came 
bruin with mouth wide open, and after her the cubs. For- 
tune favored me, as my course homeward was down the 
canyon, and aided by a pair of long legs which are always 
useful in such an emergency, I soon left my dangerous 
foe behind. This important adventure so disheartened me, 
that I am willing under almost any consideration not to 
molest bears. My table was a large box, on both sides of 
which was stenciled “ Our Taste Bacon,” and my chair a 
small box, once containing chow-chow. Now a few lines 
concerning my cooking utensils. The most important was 
a large iron pot that once belonged to a cooking-range. It 
was a ponderous concern. I thought it almost as large and 
heavy as the huge kettle my grandmother used to make 
soft-soap in What excellent soap she made ! If I only 
had the contents of that kettle now, I would drop this pen 
with which I am writing and soft-soap my way to Congress; 
My frying-pan was originally a piece of boiler-plate which 
I managed to beat oval, and it resembled the shield Mars 
wore at the siege of Troy. By giving it 'a slight flip, I 
could turn a pancake over twice. Had I then the discre- 
tion that I possess now, I would have got it patented as a 
pancake turner. My coffee-pot was a tomato can, and tea- 
pot a can that once contained Cove oysters. I drank from 
each one, Ignoring the use of a cup, which I believe is not good 
etiquette. My environments were picturesque. High 
above me, close to the mountain’s crest, smiled “ Sleeping 
Beauty,” the name given a projecting mass of rock form- 
ing the profile of a woman’s face, which is distinctly visible 
for many miles on each side the range. Back of the cabin 
not more than two rods rose a solid wall of granite, to the 
height of nearly one thousand feet, whose face is grim with 
the storms of centuries. About one third the way up, from 
a fissure gushes a brook, ice-cold, fed by the melting of per- 
petual snow. In its abrupt descent, instead of a roar as if 
angry at its headlong plunge, it produces a sort of strange, 
sweet music, to which I have often listened and thought I 
heard music’s whole diapason, as if some invisible hand was 
striking a harp attuned by a habitant of heaven. Pure, 
cold water of crystal clearness, like the River of Life. From 
this many a time I slaked my thirst and cooled my heated 


12 


Captain Kiddle. 

brow. In my mountain home I had been happy exceed- 
ingly, so completely infatuated by the Nepenthes, the name 
I gave to a small gold-bearing lode or ledge. Ah, Ne- 
penthes ! It was here I was positive that Mammon had 
fabulous riches locked up in one of his granite safes, to be 
unlocked only by the miner’s pick. Yes, forsooth, I thought 
that riches, and riches alone, would be my Nepenthes. By 
experience I have learned that sorrow, strife, turmoil, dis- 
content, and all that tends to make life miserable, harass the 
rich as well as the poor. If there is a Nepenthes at all in 
this life, it is in the beatitudes showered upon us through 
the mitigation of the woes of our fellow beings. The fire had 
burned nearly out, and as I rose to replenish it, I heard the 
roar of a furious gale sweeping up the canyon. On opening 
the door, I beheld the ground white with snow. The sight 
of snow did not surprise me in the least. For several days 
it had threatened to storm, and as it was late in November, 
of course it meant snow in the mountains. As I was 
about to close the door, round a corner came Moses and 
Miriam, my companions. Rather strange companions I 
must say — two long-eared donkeys. Both of them, as 
well as myself, knew that a furious storm was close at hand. 
They insisted on getting in doors. My first impulse was 
to close the door against them. Then, realizing how faith- 
fully they had borne their burdens over rough mountain 
trails and across scorching deserts, I concluded to admit 
them. Said I, “Well, donkeys, we are about one of a 
kind, anyhow.” 

The storm burst forth, raging as it rages only in the 
high Sierras. Thought I, what must it be like on the 
summit of Mount Whitney ? Ah, that noble mountain! 
highest point of our glorious Republic ! Never shall I for- 
get the thrill of admiration that seemed to wing my soul 
up to the heights of Eternal Day as I stood upon the crest 
of this mountain, one August afternoon, gazing down, as I 
reluctantly confess, with contempt on all that lay beneath. 
It was sort of the same exhilaration that often enthused 
me in my juvenile days, when imagining myself at early 
manhood, as a famous author, upon the giddy pinnacle of 
fame, which is sharper than the tip of a lightning rod, as I 
have often been told by those who trod the sacred heights. 
Jurists, statesmen, and even the President, would, in my 


Prelude. 


13 


estimation, be only as pancakes with a little butter and 
Vermont maple syrup in a depression or two, while I, a huge 
pyramid cake topped with half a dozen candy hearts, far 
sweeter to the taste than was the sight of my first sweet- 
heart to my eyes. Those illusions are gone — a mere 
chimera. Now, instead of being as a pyramid cake, I am 
only an ill-cooked pancake without the least butter or 
Vermont maple syrup spread over me. From the summit 
of this mighty mountain my imagination suddenly de- 
scended into Death Valley, three hundred feet, in the 
lowest place, below the level of the sea. Truly, it is the 
Valley of Death. Then, I plodded my way through heavy 
sands, and under burning skies almost hot as those over- 
hanging the regions of eternal torment. Presently a foot- 
step at the door broke upon my reverie. The door opened, 
a fancy silk handkerchief, highly perfumed, went up before 
a prominent nose, a scanty mustache rose, and a voice ex- 
claimed, 

“ Here are the two donkevs, and I wonder what has 
become of the third one.” 

The speaker did not observe me, as Moses stood between 
him and me. 

“ The fourth one has just entered,” exclaimed I, rising 
to my feet. “ Goodness, William Ramsey,” (that was my 
visitor’s name — my nearest neighbor also,) “what brought 
you out such a night as this?” 

“ Oh,” replied he, flourishing his handkerchief perfumed 
anew. “I have no wood at home. Few days ago I ran 
out of perfumery, went to town after some, and have just 
returned.” 

With a? serious countenance, somewhat exotic, inquired 
he, “And is it really true that you intend to leave the 
country ? ” 

“ Yes ; in the morning I depart for San Francisco. I am 
completely disheartened over the Nepenthes.” 

“ If you have no serious objections I should like to go 
also,” replied my visitor, giving his handkerchief several 
vigorous flourishes. 

Of course I could raise not an objection, as I was always 
pleased with his society. Permit me, kind reader, to pen 
a few words concerning my friend, Mr. Ramsey, and 
should he chance to read my opinion of him in print, I hope 


14 


Captain Kiddle. 

he will not think me animadverting in the least. Of all 
mortals that it has been my lot to associate with, I think 
Mr. Ramsey approached nearest the acme of a gentleman. 
Born of goodly parents and well-off in worldly possessions ; 
and, besides, he possessed grandeur of soul which would 
have made him a peerless bard had he been endowed with 
a jot more of ambition, thereby prompting him to pen his- 
inspirations. Alas ! they were left “ to blush unseen.’* 
He, like myself, was fond of roaming the world over. For 
the sake of a romantic life he had deteriorated from a high 
position in society — rather he was a self-exile from society — 
to the humble nomadic life of a prospector. Even if he 
had stumbled upon a hidden treasure, his first impulse 
would have been to give it to some unfortunate one strug^ 
gling manfully onward beneath the eternal frowns of. 
Mammon. He was generous ten times beyond prudence. 
Once I saw him give his Prince Albert dress-coat to an 
Indian, lo, poor Indian, who chanced to pass his cabin one 
chilly October morning. When donning his dress suit he 
had to wear a tattered gray blanket in place of the coat. He 
had his failings, and who has not? If perfection was at 
all attainable in this life, we would become as seraphs, and 
no doubt possess a passport to and from Empyrea. Occa- 
sionally he took a social glass of wine, smoked a cigarette 
and played a game or two at “ seven up.” I never heard 
him blaspheme or use vulgar language. When angry he 
always counted one hundred before speaking. I believe 
the old marine says, “ When angry, count ten before you 
speak.” Therefore Mr. Ramsey was tenfold wiser than 
the author of this proverb, as he counted ten times the 
amount before speaking. He possessed another failing — a 
feminine one — the love of perfumery. He would always 
have the same, no matter what odds were against him. 

The night was a stormy one. The wind blew harder 
than I ever knew it to do during my residence in the 
mountains. In the morning I perceived that the snow was 
not of a very heavjr fall, though badly drifted. The storm 
seemed to be heaviest in the mountain tops. So far as I 
could discern, the canyons were almost drifted full. 

“ What a lovely sight ! ” said I to Mr. Ramsey as we 
stood just without the cabin door observing the mountain 
tops clad in a perfect tailor-fitting robe of daisy white. 


Prelude. 


15 


They stood out boldly against the serene sky, and seemed 
almost resplendent in the morning sun. Turning my eyes 
toward Mt. Whitney, the grim, bald-headed old Titan, I be- 
held it with a white cap and cloak on. It appeared to have 
put on a celestial-hued robe to minister to spirits that may 
have hovered round its crest. The scene seemed a phan- 
tasy but I knew it to be a reality, for I had seen the same the 
fall before, the winter through, and, in fact, till the hot July 
sun bade it show its bald-head again. There was a slight 
pain of selfishness in my heart, as I realized that others, per- 
chance numerous as the sands of the sea, centuries and 
centuries of thousands of years, ago, may have beheld the 
same sight. Who can tell but what the Moses of a mighty 
nation, lost amid the wrecks of Time may have ascended to 
the summit of this mountain and received from the hand of 
the Almighty a decalogue ! This mountain may have been 
a Jacob’s Ladder for the faithful, after having laid aside 
their mortality, to ascend into heaven. The seasons come 
and go bidding this mountain to put on its white cap and 
cloak, doff them for a brief season, and become green — 
rather a strange aspect for so gray and venerable an object 
to assume. 

I must no longer parley with depression, and I fear, kind 
reader, 1 have already tasked your patience severely. It 
was late in the forenoon before we got started. The snow 
greatly impeded our progress, but, however, we managed to 
reach Mr. Ramsey’s cabin at dark. Here we stopped two 
days waiting for the snow to settle. As Mr. Ramsey stated, 
there was no firewood at hand. The first thing we did 
was to demolish the furniture, making fuel of it, which was 
a grade or two better than my own. On arriving at Keeler, 
which we reached on the evening of the day we left Mr. 
Ramsey’s cabin, we turned the donkeys loose, givingthem 
their freedom, boarded the train, and within three days and 
one half arrived in San Francisco. 


16 


Captain Kiddle. 


CHAPTER IT. 

THE CAPTAIN. 

As we, Mr. Ramsey and I stepped from the ferry-boat just 
•over from Oakland, I was much bewildered. What crowds 
on every hand ! Bus men shouting, freight wagons rattling, 
and a multitude of other noises all exotic to my ear. I 
must confess that I was the country greenhorn personified. 
There I stood staring about, not knowing which way to 
look or go. Mr. Ramsey, so self-possessed, took out his 
handkerchief freshly perfumed, wiped a drop or two of 
perspiration from his brow, and then ogled a handsome 
young lady accompanied by a harsh-looking old woman, 
•evidently the young lady’s maiden aunt. Said he, tapping 
me on the shoulder with a kid glove which he was on the 
point of putting on, 44 How would you like that crow for 
a mother-in-law ? ” 

The old lady, angered on hearing the remark, replied with 
a supercilious toss of the head, “ You impudent fop, were it 
possible for me to be your mother-in-law, you would get 
such a piece of my mind that you would know enough to 
keep your mouth closed. I have a great mind to begin on 
you anyhow.” 

She really meant it and would have begun had not her 
companion dragged her forward, at the same time re- 
marking, 44 Auntie, never mind.” 

Soon as they disappeared among the crowd, Mr. Ramsey 
inquired if I had lost anything. 

Replied I, “ Am looking for a suitable camping-place.” 

Being so embarrassed I forgot that I was in the city ; 
which accounts for my absurd reply. 

44 Come, and we will camp up yonder, ” pointing out the 
Palace Hotel. 

Of all things I abhor is a home at a hotel. What would 
I do at a hotel — one like Mr. Ramsey intended I should so- 
journ ? Having dwelt aloof so long from civilization, my 


IT 


The Captain. 

deportment had become rude. Once Mr. Ramsey told me 
I behaved like a grizzly bear. That was just after the old 
she-bear chased me. Shortly after this harsh criticism he 
said there was a marked affinity between me and my 
donkeys. W ere he not my bosom friend I should have been, 
extremely angry with him. 

At length replied I, “ Mr. Ramsey, you may go there, but 
I must seek quarters more congenial to my idiosyncracies.” 

He was determined that I should go thence, and for the 
first time I failed to comply with his desires. The last I 
saw of him for the following week was as he entered a 
free ’bus to the hotel in question. At length I managed to 
get quartered in the fourth story of a second-rate lodging 
house, No. 13 — Mission St., and took my meals at an excel- 
lent restaurant one block further up the street. My inert 
mode of life and comfortably furnished apartments filled me 
with discontent. After one week’s residence in the city, I 
made up my mind to return to the mountains and herd 
sheep (a sheep-owner having made me a fair offer), but 
my plans were reversed by my friend, Mr. Ramsey, whom 
I met one afternoon on Market St. with a handsome young 
lady on each arm. I was afraid he would introduce me to 
his fair companions, so I turned round and began walking 
rapidly away. I had taken perhaps half a dozen steps where 
he called out saying — “ Hold on, old bear.” 

He often addressed me thus. I was much afraid he 
might apply his othjer appellation — old donkey. Goodness \ 
how I would have felt had he done so in the presence of 
those young ladies. 

“Call at the Palace this evening. I have something 
important to import to you.” 

“Will do so,” replied I, glancing over my shoulder, the 
right one I think, and saw the trio enter a drug store. I 
knew that this meant buying perfumery. 

“ What can he want of me?” I asked myself over and 
over again. I called, and Mr. Ramsey met me at the 
gentlemen’s entrance with handkerchief in hand, saturated 
with the most ambrosial perfumery the market afforded. 
He extended his hand, which I grasped eagerly, as in days 
gone by in the mountains, on meeting after a long separa- 
tion. The handkerchief went to his nose three times, and 
then disappeared in a pocket in the tail of his coat. 


18 Captain Kiddle. 

44 Old chum,” began he , 44 you know you have dabbled in 
book- writing a little.” 

44 Yes,” replied I, demurely ; 44 but my success was about 
the same as prospecting.” 

44 Am sure I can be instrumental in procuring you a 
capital subject for a book, which, when complete, would be 
a book of fact.” 

44 How so ? ” I asked, half in doubt. 

44 Do you see that man reading a newspaper, back 
toward us, and with both feet upon the table ? ” 

He pointed out an individual who looked no larger 
than an ordinary lad of twelve, with both feet upon a table 
that stood near the centre of the reading-room. 

44 That,” continued he 44 is Captain John D. Kiddle, 
sole survivor of the ill-fated whaler 44 Boreas.” He avers that 
he reached the North Pole. If you could obtain an account 
of his adventures and publish the same as your own pro- 
duction, your reputation as an author would be unques- 
tionably established. Then you could afford perfumery 
like this ” (here he placed his handkerchief to my nose) 44 on 
your everyday handkerchief.” 

The Captain removed his feet from their elevated position, 
laid down his newspaper, and looked directly at me, as I 
thought at the time. However, afterwards I learned he 
was watching the door to see if any more newspaper re- 
porters entered. That day no less than twenty had called 
upon him hoping to obtain information regarding that long 
disputed subject — the North Pole. For some reason he 
would not divulge a single word. Then, what hope would 
there be for me when individuals had failed who seemed 
to obtain information from a coffee-mill or grindstone ; 
who could make the wind from a bellows articulate on 
almost any subject, the tongue of a fire-bell rattle away 
like an angry mother’s-in-law, and the hands of a clock 
write Chinese? On gazing at the door several moments, 
the Captain rose, fixed his eyes upon the ceiling as if try- 
ing to recall something to memory. Though only a boy 
in stature,. barely five feet tall, weight probably one hun- 
dred and five pounds, he possessed one of the most in- 
telligent heads I ever beheld. Forehead high and broad, 
which, however, was disfigured by a large purple tattoo 
slightly resembling a cross or an +, in fact it was more like 


19 


The Captain. 

the imprint of a crow’s foot in the sand. Face perfect as if 
wrought by a sculptor’s chisel, but slightly wrinkled. 
Probably Father Time had drawn his fingers fifty times 
annually athwart his countenance in engendering these 
wrinkles. Hair brown, a little gray, and so was the scanty 
beard. Eyes large, dark, and keen. The longer I gazed at 
him, larger and grander he seemed to grow'. 

“ I will introduce you,” said Mr. Ramsey at length. 

We stepped forward. The Captain, mistaking me for a 
newspaper reporter, sat down at the table and resumed 
his paper. 

44 Captain,” said Mr. Ramsey. 

The Captain pretended not to hear. 

“ Captain,” continued Mr. Ramsey in the way of an 
introduction which I expected him to perform with several 
low bows and few flourishes of the handkerchief, 44 1 have 
brought a friend of mine who is anxious to learn some- 
thing of your adventures.” 

The Captain glanced at me, shut one eye, and replied : 
‘‘Young man, you are the twenty-first applicant to-day 
who has sought information concerning my hardships in 
boreal regions. Jay Gould will run a pleasure party to 
the North Pole every day before I w'ould inform you quizzing 
pack of reporters of anything.” 

44 Captain,” said I hesifatingly. 44 1 am not of the class 
you mention.” 

He gave me a prolix look, and ejaculated. 44 Then what 
interest could my adventures be to you ? ” 

44 Thought I could make a tolerable good book of them.” 

44 Ah, ah,” (with a sarcastic sneer) 44 you aspire to author- 
ship, do you? Young man, ninety-nine times out of every 
hundred authorship is the figure-head looking straight 
toward the poorhouse. However, call in the morning 
and I might gratify your desires, though only under certain 
conditions. Good-evening.” 

44 Good-evening, Captain.” 

As I reached the door where Mr. Ramsey stood waiting 
with handkerchief in hand, and on placing it to his nose, 
said, 44 1 know the Captain has taken a fancy to you, and 
unquestionably you are the fortunate one.” 

44 How do you know that he is favorably disposed tow'ard 
me?” 


20 


Captain Kiddle. 

“ I did not notice that purple tattoo turn black as it seemed 
to do when everybody else solicited information. What a 
horrible disfigurement it is. Hideous as the Creator’s mark 
on the brow of Cain.” 

Mr. Ramsey accompanied me to my quarters, and before 
he had been in the house five minutes, was engaged in 
conversation with the lodging mistress’s daughter without an 
introduction. As for myself, I had not spoken to her yet. 
My friend tarried with me till just midnight. The clock 
struck the hour as he passed through the door. He en- 
tertained me delightfully in narrating what he had observed 
and experienced while in the city. He knew the name of 
every street and of almost every business house, drug 
stores especially. He was ever perfumery shopping. How 
stupid I was. Had even forgotten the name of the street 
I lived on and the number of the house I lodged in. When 
out, and wanting to reach home, I sighted out a great dark 
building that stood on the opposite side the street I resided 
on, and made for it. If I chanced to go amiss, generally 
inquired of a policeman if he could show me the trail to the 
Summit House (the name of my lodging house). I should 
have said the wap but the word trail recalled those happy 
days I spent in the mountains. After my friend took his 
departure I opened a large gunny sack, my mountain Sara- 
toga trunk, and took therefrom writing materials, intending 
to ansvVer several correspondents in the East, but fell 
asleep. Soon as entering the tranquil halls of Somnus* 
where assemble the king, subject, landlord, tenant, rich and 
poor, all mankind and creatures,, to enjoy the beatitude of 
Nature’s kindest god, Morpheus, that voluptuous and 
hideous nightmare inspiring god paid me a visit. His 
wiles made me an author. With a voluminous manuscript 
under my arm I entered a book publishing house, and the 
indvidual who decides whether a manuscript will be pub- 
lished or consigned to the waste-basket frowned ominously 
on me. 

“ Sir,” said I, “ here is a manuscript that I wish you 
to examine.” 

Replied he, frowning ominously, and at the same time 
pointing to a large pile of manuscripts, containing at 
least one hundred : “ This vast amount is ahead of yours. 


The Captain . 21 

However, if you will assist me in getting through this one, 
yours will be considered next.” 

I took a seat at his table and began assisting him. It 
was the manuscript of a novel by a Miss Amy Jones, en- 
titled, “ How I Chose and Tamed my Husband.” How the 
spinster ever obtained so much information on this subject 
without ever having a husband, is a mystery. While specu- 
lating over the matter the individual I was assisting dis- 
appeared through a door near which he sat. As he took 
his departure a crowd, such a motley crowd of authors, came 
forward holding their productions at arm’s length and 
crying, “ Me first, me first.” Then they began tossing 
their parcels at my head. Soon I was buried completely and 
almost suffocated. How I wished the art of printing had 
never been invented. I wished that every mortal, myself 
included, could only write X when required to sign his 
name. Presently, however, I woke up, the candle had 
overturned, and a portion of my writing material was ablaze. 

Next morning, at 9 o’clock, I entered the Palace Hotel, and 
a clerk conducted me to the Captain’s room, No. 101 on 
the second floor, one of the best furnished apartments in 
the Palace. The Captain was in a dressing gown, with a 
fancy silk cap on. At first I thought it Mr. Ramsey’s silk 
handkerchief, as the cap and handkerchief were alike. The 
captain, looking up from a large memorandum-book that 
had the appearance of having been badly water-soaked, bade 
me be seated. Then he absorbed his attention in the book. 
For fully one hour he was thus preoccupied, constantly 
turning its soiled, warped leaves. At times I noticed 
tears appear in his eyes. Again he gnashed his teeth, and. 
brought his fist, little larger than a woman’s, down on the 
table, and lastly, he laughed. His laughter was dry and 
peculiar. 

“You must not pay any attention to my ebullitions of 
joy, sorrow, or anger,” remarked he, slowly turning the 
leaves, “ for this carries me back to the scenes that I am 
about to narrate. Would to God I could expunge some 
of them from my memory, but Mnemonic keeps them in- 
cessantly before my eyes both day and night. You see 
this memorandum ? ” 

He held the book up high as his left hand would reach, 
and by which act I took it for granted he was left-handed. 


22 


Captain Kiddle. 

“ This contains a complete account of my adventures, 
though in rather an obscure form. It would not be in- 
telligible to you or anybody else. Now what I propose to 
do is, relate a portion of the affair each day, Sunday not 
included, till it is finished. Taking it in ordinary hand- 
writing, longhand is a slow, tedious way. You had better 
get a shorthand writer, a first class one, for I will dictate at 
the rate of two hundred and fifty words per minute.” 

“ Captain, I wish to make a suggestion ; if your adventures 
are to be published, of course the manuscript will have to 
be in longhand. Why could I not take it down in long- 
hand, thus saving the time of transcribing ? ” 

“For this reason : do you suppose I have nothing else 
to do but sit waiting for you with your clumsy pen to 
write what I may have to say ? I do not intend that the 
matter shall engross my attention more than an hour each 
day.” 

What was the best method for me to pursue ? To em- 
ploy a competent shorthand writer meant financial embar- 
rassment. My financial circumstances were, as usual, at low 
tide. Having a crude knowledge of phonography I resolved 
to resort to my own capabilities, as the last expedient. 

“ Captain,” said I, at length, “please begin. Think I 
can catch enough to get the substance, and then can fill in 
what is lacking.” 

“It must be verbatim. Every assertion I make, no 
matter how ambiguous it may seem, I shall fully substan- 
tiate when an occasion demands it.” 

While he spoke the above, I wrote it in shorthand with 
comparative ease, as he did not speak very fast. Looking 
over my shoulder he saw the characters, appeared some- 
what amazed, and said, “You can write shorthand too, I 
see.” 

“ Yes, a little.” 

Then I informed him why I did not employ a competent 
phonographer. Am sure I won his sympathy, for he agreed 
to speak slowly. He must have wholly forgotten his prom- 
ise, for soon as he opened his mouth the air seemed to 
set his tongue in motion. It fairly hummed, not unlike a 
buzz-saw. I have often thought since that the organ was 
propelled by perpetual motion. I never heard but one 
tongue that came anywhere near the Captain’s, and that 


23 


The Captain, 

was Mrs. Sam Hussey’s. This lady was president of a wo- 
man’s rights convention, and addressed the audience in re- 
gard to a statement that her husband had made, to wit : “ The 
bustle is a horrifier instead of a beautifier of the female 
form.” I managed at length to get the Captain to speak 
slowly — occupy, on an average, one hour each day, which 
constitutes a chapter. I made a transcript soon as p6ssible, 
fearing I could not make out the characters soon as they 
“ got cold.” The Captain made a few unimportant altera- 
tions in the transcript, and announced himself well satis- 
fied with my work. Should anything doubtful appear 
anon, to clear your mind of doubt, kind reader, I refer 
you to Captain John D. Kiddle, who, as he says, is ready 
to substantiate it. I know he will do the same. Now we 
will see what the Captain has to say. 


24 


Captain Kiddle, 


THE CAPTAIN’S STORY. 

' 

CHAPTER III. 

THE “ BOREAS ” AND CREW. 

My father was a sea captain, and for many years 
commander and owner of the merchant ship Monsoon , 
engaged principally in the East India and China trade. 
From the time I was a small boy — it seems to me I never 
grew much since — till I became of age, I went to sea with 
my father, as he had with his father, and as my grand- 
father with his father. I am, as you readily see, of a sea- 
faring family, and my ancestors resided in the great whaling 
town, New Bedford, Mass., ever since the place was laid 
out. When I became of age, an idea entered my mind, 
being young and romantic, that I could greatly improve 
my financial condition by going on a whaling cruise in the 
North seas. Little did I realize what a voyage of this kind 
meant. Captain William Sylvester, an old whaling mas- 
ter, my father’s life-long friend, offered me a situation, first 
mate of one of his numerous whaling ships, named, if I, 
remember rightly, Tempest , commanded by his cousin 
A. Jackson Brown. This was just the sort of situation I 
wanted. We set sail for boreal regions, and after one 
year’s absence returned laden to utmost capacity with oil, 
oil everywhere. The old oily craft glided through the brine 
in calmest weather. This financially important cruise 
enthused me, and in fact I was completely infatuated. 
Nothing short of a ship of my own would satisfy my wild 
visions of wealth. My father, the good old gentleman, 
though in those days I considered him very rigorous, fitted 
me out with as complete an outfit as ever cruised for 
whales at that time. I say he fitted me out, and so he did, 
but I was to wipe out the cost of the whole concern with 
the profit accruing from the sale of my oil. With spirits 


The “ Boreas ” and Crew . 


25 


buoyant as foam amid the breakers, I set forth on a cruise. 
What a cruise ! covering the period of nearly three years’ 
time. I captured only one whale, and a wounded one at 
that. On entering the harbor of my native town, my spir- 
its were so low that I ran the flag up at half-mast, mourning 
my ill luck. Crowds gathered upon the wharf, wondering 
who was dead. We had been given up for dead. Soon 
as we got within speaking distance, among the crowd I 
recognized my father, who had the day before returned 
from China. With his sonorous voice that sounded like a 
trumpet’s blare, he shouted, saying, “John, who is dead?” 

Seizing the speaking trumpet I replied, “ All the whales.” 

Soon as the gangplank was lowered my father came 
aboard, a sailor having informed him of my ill luck, 
stretched forth his hand, intending to shake hands. He 
being a talbman, above six feet, his hand struck me in the 
face, almost knocked me flat. 

“ My son, you have wasted three years of your life, and 
added three years’ interest to your debt,” said he, with- 
out offering an apology for the unintended blow. 

I was so down-hearted that I did not wish to see any- 
body. I stole back to my cabin and 

“ Wished that the ebbing tide 
Would bear me away on its bosom 
O’er the ocean wild and wide.” 

Among the crowd I noticed my sweetheart, with a smile 
on her sweet face. If there is anything in this world that 
gladdens a young man it is the sight of his sweetheart, 
especially after an absence of three years. Often I wish 
that I had greeted her, for she was such a good, constant 
girl, the only lass, I believe, that ever loved me. The 
next time I beheld her on the wharf was two years after- 
ward, on my return as a passenger from California. Ah, 
but how changed ! Why, sir, her demeanor toward me 
was cold as an iceberg. She was there to greet a tall 
young fellow passenger whom she married one week after 
his arrival. 

With such an enormous debt hovering over my head 
like the Harpies of old, I could not remain idle long. 
Soon as my craft could be loaded with merchandise, 
and with one hundred passengers, I set sail for San Fran- 


26 


Captain Kiddle . 

cisco, round the Horn. It was either storms or calms all 
the way down the Atlantic, and we rounded the Horn in a 
perpetual hurricane. At length my ship succumbed to the 
violent elements. All hands of us would have been lost 
had not a ship rescued us just as we were on the point of 
going down. Both ship and cargo were insured to their 
full value. Thus the storm really proved my benefactor, 
compelling the underwriter to make good the loss which 
cleared me of debt. With the ship that rescued us I pro- 
ceeded to California, and for a while commanded a schooner 
flying up and down the coast of California, Oregon and 
Washington Territory. Being out of debt I resolved at 
length to solicit another favor of my father ; in other words 
ask him for another ship. My father granted my request, 
giving me a new ship, much larger and finer that the first 
one. I called her Boreas . She was a one thousand ton 
burden craft, one hundred and fifty feet in length, and 
thirty foot beam, full ship rigged, and possessed every im- 
provement known in those times. I was soon off for 
California again, laden as before with passengers and mer- 
chandise. This time the Atlantic quite forgot itself and 
was not enraged at all till in the vicinity of Cape Horn. 
Here, as usual, rough weather was encountered. At length 
a hurricane swept the seas for the purpose, I always 
thought, of trying my new craft. The good ship laughed 
in the grim face of the storm-king, and w’e weathered, 
without the slightest injury, the most terrific sea I ever 
beheld in that quarter of the globe. After discharging my 
cargo at San Francisco, I plied up and down the Pacific 
coast from Victoria, Vancouver Island, to Panama. About 
this time the Panama route was opened. In this vocation 
I continued for five years, till a letter brought the sad in- 
telligence of my father’s death. It also requested me to re- 
turn home, if possible, and administer on the estate. The 
estate, I am glad to say, was large and valuable. As I read 
the letter with tears coursing down my cheeks, I said : 
“ Father has gone to join mother. Dear parents ! both 
taking, as we all must, that long, oblivious sleep afterlife’s 
struggle.” 

My mother had not a long struggle in this world. She 
died young, when I was but three months old. I know by & 
photograph, over which I have often seen father weep, that 


The “ Boreas ” and Creiv . 


27 


she was beautiful. I know by what Aunt Liberty, father’s 
youngest sister, said, that she was a good, kind woman. I 
have often wondered why she did not cry out of Heaven 
when my great brutal nurse was beating me. That ac- 
counts for my dwarfish stature, for when I had grown an 
inch, this nurse would beat that much back again. I should 
not censure her, as she is also dead, and it is only the 
coward that assails one in his grave. I gathered together 
about as many passengers as I had accommodation for, the 
majority having made their fortune in the gold mines, and 
started homeward. The grim old Horn actually smiled on 
me as I rounded it. Perchance the hurricane, that I en- 
countered five years previous, had told it that my craft 
was invulnerable to both wind and wave. Even the 
elements seem to respect that which is strong. On 
arriving at the wharf of my native town, standing where 
my sweetheart stood, as I returned from my first unsuccess- 
ful whaling cruise, was Aunt Liberty, whom I always called 
Lib. She had returned from China with father on his last 
voyage, having gone thence a score and odd years before as 
amissionary to Christianize the “benighted heathen.” There 
she stood looking taller, more lank and angular than ever. 
By her side stood an ill-featured Chinaman, arrayed in 
gorgeous apparel, probably that of a mandarin. Perhaps 
he was her only convert, and I doubt that he was fully 
Christianized, for he still retained his cue, the heathen’s pass- 
port to eternal happiness. Soon as she saw me through her 
glasses that hung low on her long sharp nose, she said: 
“La me, John ; for goodness’ sake ! you are getting smaller 
every day. Y ou are not half so good looking as this China- 
man.” 

The crowd laughed loudly, which made me angry. Just 
then I wished Aunt Lib and the Chinaman in the 
remotest corner of China and even beyond the Great Wall. 
I shook hands with my aunt, and while doing so, she 
stooped to kiss me, but did not stoop low enough. She 
missed me hat and all. I heard her lips smack together 
several inches above my head. It might have been that 
she was stiff with rheumatism ; with this joint-stiffening 
disease she was afflicted. I think that a great many have 
rheumatism in the neck for they are so stiff-necked. 

“La me, John; I have not introduced you yet to this 


28 


Captain Kiddle. 

Chinese gentleman,” said my aunt, showing the last tooth 
in her false set that my father made her a present of the 
first Christmas she spent in the Flowery Kingdom. 

“ Never mind about it, Aunt Lib.” 

“ Why, lame, he is really too good to be introduced out- 
side the family.” 

The crowd was deeply interested in the heathen. I had 
a mortal aboard the ship who would astonish all. 

“ Jack Gun, come here,” I called. 

Jack Gun, a full blood Piute Indian, reared among the 
mountains and on the deserts, in the vicinity of Owen’s 
Lake, dashed forward, face smeared with war paint, uttering 
tremendous war-whoops and flourishing a large knife. 
The crowd shrieked and the timid fled, among whom was 
my aunt and the heathen. Thus I addressed Jack to awe- 
inspire the crowd : “ Old killer of many grizzly bears, eater 
of coyotes, drinker of Owen’s Lake water, burner of witches, 
judge of good whisky and smoker of poor cigars, scalp 
that heathen ! ” 

The heathen just ahead of my aunt was flying up the 
street homeward with cue sticking out straight behind. 
After him dashed Jack, flourishing the knife and uttering 
war-whoops that aroused the town. With a few bounds, 
Jack, who was very fleet of foot, grasped the heathen’s cue, 
the knife quivered a moment in the air, descended, and off 
came the cue close to the scalp. The heathen fell upon the 
pavement and wailed piteously. My aunt fainted dead 
away. A policeman came and tried to stand her upon her 
feet, but made a failure of it. Two laborers working in a 
lumber-yard close at hand, came with a wide sixteen-foot 
board, and inquired of the policeman if he thought it long 
enough to place her upon to convey her home. I did not 
hear his reply ; evidently he was in doubt, for his counte- 
nance was much perplexed. As they were in the act of 
placing her upon the board, a conveyance, a coal cart or 
something of that sort, came along and took her home. 
Jack and I went home — my old home, the home of my sires, 
of which my aunt claimed an indisputable possession. 
The servants welcomed me cordially and growled about 
their new mistress, saying that her long residence in 
heathen lands had made her a tyrantess. Mv aunt and the 
Chinaman kept secluded while Jack and I enjoyed every 


The “ Boreas ” Crew. 


29 


hospitality the old home afforded. By slow degrees my 
aunts horror of Jack wore away. I insinuated that she 
ought to convince Jack of his ungodly ways, and try to 
save his soul. She declared he had no soul to save, and 
became indignant when I informed her she was in error. 
The estate was not difficult to administer on, scarcely any 
accounts worth mentioning against it, and about the same 
character in its favor. 

My father, one year previous to his demise, leased his ship 
to my cousin J. D. Kiddle ; the same initials as my own, 
though the names are different. His is James Dredger, 
and mine John Digger. At home, after years of hardships, 
environed by every good thing the heart could wish ; but 
I was not contented. There was no excitement, no storms 
to buffet me, no breakers to roar their ominous warning to 
be kept away from. I yearned for a voyage, a long cruise. 
My good ship tied up at the lower end of the wharf always 
pointed her prow seaward as if anxious to plow the brine 
once more. 

One fine spring afternoon as I paced her capacious deck, 
I repeated a little of my own composition : 

Good ship, I’ll rend thy mooring in twain 
And spread thy broad snowy sail. 

While the Storm King supremely reigns 
We’ll defy both wave and gale. 

It was on this afternoon in question that I resolve*d to 
make a whaling voyage. When I told my aunt of my in- 
tentions, she was much pleased ; and in her heart I know she 
wished that I would never return again. How sullen she 
looked on learning I had made a will naming Miss Betsy 
M. Spike, my only sister’s child, as sole heir to my posses- 
sions. I did this should I become one of “ the many thou- 
sands that lie buried in the sea,” that my aunt could not 
lay claim to the property. To-day my heir occupies the 
old home, but not alone ; she has a husband, and also a little 
boy named after her uncle John, which is myself. I intend 
that she and her husband shall always occupy it so far as 
I am concerned. Since my arrival in this city, one month 
ago, I have made a fortune. The late wheat deal has given 
me all the wealth I care for. It is said “fortune favors the 
brave.” I do not think this true in every circumstance. I 


30 Captain Kiddle. 

have seen brave 4 souls risk their last dollar in some enter- 
prise which looked favorable, and lose all. Again I saw a 
close-fisted, niggardly old miser, who denied himself the 
necessaries of life, invest a ten-dollar bank-note, which he 
thought spurious, in a Louisiana State Lottery ticket and 
draw the grand prize. Fortune is a fickle old dame, though 
deaf to eloquence and flattery. I must on with my story. 
One fortnight after I resolved upon a voyage, I set sail for 
Arctic seas going over the same course I had several years 
previous, when I could find but a single whale. Near as I 
could reckon where I took the wounded one, we fell in with 
a school of whales. I never saw or heard of, or imagined 
there were so many whales in the sea. Whales, whales 
everywhere ! Whales on a boiling, whales being cut up, 
whales spouting close at hand, as if anxious for their turn 
to come next. I wished for a ship large as the Great 
Eastern, and am sure I could have loaded it down with oil. 
When the cargo was complete, whales followed us hun- 
dreds of miles and seemed much affronted at the indiffer- 
ence manifested toward them. I have heard of yellow- 
legged chickens waiting for somebody to cut off their heads 
whenever a certain minister came around, but I never heard 
of whales following a ship to be harpooned. How jocund 
were my spirits as I entered the harbor. I ran the flag up 
full mast, and would have a dozen more had they been on 
board. I could have greeted my sweetheart with extended 
arms, and told her that, after having disposed of enough 
oil to make us immensely wealthy, there would be 
enough left to lubricate life’s rugged pathway, making it 
lubricous for ns to glide over as a skating rink floor. With 
my fortune I should have been contented, but said to 
myself, “ One more voyage and then, old chap, you can, if 
you choose, revel in indolence the remainder of your life.” 

The entire crew was avaricious as myself, and the unan- 
imous request was, “ One more voyage.” Who could have 
foretold that I was to personate old Charcgi and take my 
entire crew to the other shore, where naught save spirits in 
ghostly array break upon the quietude? Now, at night in 
the star-gilded firmament, in letters fashioned of stars I 
seem to read. One more voyage ! My ship and crew, alas I 
both destroyed. Having said something about the ship, I 
am sure a few lines pertaining to the crew would not be 


The “ Boreas ” and Crew . 


31 


inapplicable. I ;will begin by giving a brief account of 
Mr. Michael McFadden, first mate. This excellent man, 
an Irish American, at the time of his decease was five 
years older than I am now, making him in his fifty seventh, 
year. Possessing a commanding appearance, he was often 
taken for captain, and I in my younger days for the cabin 
boy. Calm in severest storms, self-possessed in seasons of 
greatest peril, he was completely beside himself when 
realizing that age was marring his splendid physique. 
From the top of his head the hair had fallen and he cov- 
ered the baldness with a wig. Several front teeth had 
decayed away and false ones occupied their stead. His 
hair, what remained, was gray, and so were his» whiskers. 
He restored them to their former color, which was black, 
with various hair dyes. Cheeks pale, a red face prepara- 
tion made him rosy-cheeked as a country school girl. On 
becoming stiff-jointed he sauntered about with a majestic 
air which proclaimed, “I am monarch of all I survey.” 
Aside from these slight failings he was a man of excellent 
education, honesty and integrity. During all the time he 
was with me, from the date I took command of my first ship 
till his decease, I saw not a single act that would mar the 
deportment of a gentleman. To me he was like an elder 
brother and over his untimely fate I mourned long. The 
second mate, Mr. Solomon Levy, a descendant of the tribe 
of Levy, was an integral Jew. He had the misfortune to 
be wholly misled by the wiles of Mammon, which often 
prompted him to do many a dishonorable act. Being such a 
rogue on land, he took to the sea that he might not be 
tempted to practice his schemes of swindling, which made 
him trouble wherever he went. He was severe with the 
men under him, and performed his tasks with alacrity, for 
which I respected him. 

Jesse Henry Dutch was the name of the third mate, and 
I hope that I may never meet with such a contemptible 
specimen of humanity again. Instead of Dutch he signed 
his name as German, and requested us to call him such. 
He was as Dutch as his name, and could no more deny his 
nationality than Pat’s pig, had it got into a Chinaman’s 
pen and called itself Chinese. I seem to see him standing 
before me, a dwarfish, broad-chested, long-armed, slightly 
bow-legged mortal of thirty odd years. His large, flat head 


82 Captain Kiddle. 

was covered with coarse sandy hair, which grew down on 
the forehead within two finger-widths of the eyebrows. 
His small, watery gray eyes were overhung with bristly 
brows. Nose flat at the bridge, and at the end not unlike 
a small potato cut through the centre and adhered to the. 
face. The nostrils were wide as a negro’s. Flap-mouth, 
which was constantly full of tobacco. Ears large and 
flabby, projecting forward. It would not be slang to have 
told him, “ Pin back your ears.” Beard same color as the 
hair, and it had a peculiarity that I never saw before or 
since. Above the corners of the mouth it grew straight 
up, and below the mouth, which extended almost across the 
face, stuck straight out. Speech thick and indistinct, 
similar to a man pretty much intoxicated. Hands large, 
with stubby fingers, the nails short and wide. There was 
not a single good quality about him. I marked him down 
as a rascal, but knew he possessed not the acumen for any 
deep-laid scheme. He was a professor of religion, but his 
prayers were more of blasphemy than adoration. Creed, 
Lutheran, and he could see no hope for anybody outside 
that denomination. Every time he prayed, gave the Most 
High to distinctly understand that he was the only perfect 
mortal on earth. The good-for-nothing rascal obtained 
the situation through the influence of his father, who 
claimed his son to be an able seaman. If he had ever 
made a voyage at all it was in the capacity of a passenger 
in coming over from Holland. I believed the statements of 
his father, a physician residing at Milford, Pa., where my 
sister resided also. The physician, an upright man appar- 
ently in the eyes of the world, palliated many crooked 
actions beneath the amice of religion. It seems that on 
learning I had designated my niece as my heir, he sent this 
ape-like son of his to court Miss Betsy, but she gave him 
to understand on his first visit that his society would be 
better appreciated in some zoological garden caged with 
the apes. Then the physician came to mean person with 
a long, sanctimonious face, beseeching me to give his son a 
situation that lie might learn to become a nautical com- 
mander. He did this hoping I would become favorably 
disposed toward the sluggard, and recommend him to my 
niece. At first sight I detested him. It would have been 
a mercy to myself and crew had I booted both him and his 


33 


J 

The “ Boreas ” a?id Crew. 


father from the deck when they first set foot upon it. All 
that this ape ever did was to sleep, or admire himself in 
a looking-glass, thinking he was beautiful. He had a glass 
on each wall of his room. While gazing in the glass he 
combed his hair, trying to make it lie down, or stroked 
his beard. I am not at all prejudiced against the Dutch, 
as my tone may indicate. Among the sailors was Mathew 
Lugent, a young Dutchman, who was really third mate. 
I had him act in this capacity on finding out how utterly 
worthless Dutch was. What a noble young man he was! 
Tall, perfectly erect, broad-shouldered, light-complexioned, 
yellow-haired, a mass of short golden curls ; blue-eyed, the 
natal haunt of gentleness ; character irreproachable. No 
matter what sort of task was before him he never com- 
plained. He called me Uncle John, and I him, My boy/. 
Had the poor fellow survived the fatal voyage he would 
have married my heir. When bidding his affianced adieu, 
I heard him say, “ Betsy, one more voyage.” 

Replied she, “ Mat ” (that is what she and we all called 
him), “one more voyage.” 

He was idolized by all on board, except Dutch, who 
called him low-Dutch. The ape was jealous and knew 
Mat’s superiority over him. The boatswain, Thos. H. 
Williams, an Englishman of middle age, troubled a great 
deal with Bright’s disease of the kidneys, was taken sick soon 
after leaving port, of which I wiH speak shortly. The 
carpenter, Don Leguna, a Mexican from the Yacqui River 
country, claimed to be a genuine don, was an excellent 
mechanic. His greatest failing was that he paid too 
much homage to King Alcohol. The harpooner, Loran 
S. Buncom, at the age of sixty, the time of his decease, did 
not look above five-and-forty. His stalwart frame defied 
the wasting elements of time, and was as some prom- 
ontory projecting in the sea, whose hard granite face 
frowned upon the breakers, behesting them to become 
quiet. His square chin and massive eyebrows attested stern- 
ness, and greater prominence was given to his features by 
wearing the beard only on the throat, projecting a little 
beyond the chin. Behind his stem countenance was 
a character mollified, elevated by the heavenly beatitudes 
that characterize every true believer in Christ. His 
whole life seemed afragment of heavenly bliss showered 

3 


34 


Captain Kiddle . 

from the hand of the Almighty, as I often think it 
descends to cheer onward the bearer of the cross. 
Whether in sunshine, storms, joy or sorrow, this grand old 
soldier of the cross pointed out, saying, “Beyond is 
God.” 

At night, when weary and discouraged, his prayers dis- 
pelled from my mind all care and fear. His godly ways 
had a marked influence on all except Dutch, who called 
him “ Old Praying Calf.” 

I do not mean to speak rudely of this good soul, but his 
deep sonorous voice when at prayer was not unlike the 
bleating of a calf. Only once I remember seeing him 
angry, and that was when Daniel Rice, an intelligent well- 
to-do mechanic, stole, as he declared, his only daughter 
from him. Hattie, that was his daughter’s name, merely 
eloped with the mechanic because her father insisted that 
she should marry an old deaf, dried-up church deacon 
about the age of her sire. Hattie was young, ambitious, 
and wanted a congenial life partner. I think her perfectly 
justifiable in pursuing the course she did. How miserable 
she would have been with the old fossil forever giving his 
advice as to how his first wife did this and that thing ! 
Had not Mr. Buncom reasoned philosophically with his 
wife, as Socrates with his morose spouse, there would have 
been many a family jar. Patience was her name, but she 
no more resembled th^ Patience who sat on a tombstone 
smiling at grief than I do Samson. She was impatience 
personified. Imp, as Mr. Buncom always called her, was 
never in good humor. One Christmas morning I called on 
Mr. Buncom, who lived across the street from me, and I 
found Imp more out of patience than ever over the fact 
that her bottle of Warner’s Safe Cure was about exhausted. 
1 knew Mr. Buncom’s pocket was empty, so I gave him a 
five dollar bank note, telling him to buy her six bottles. 
Mr. Buncom departed with countenance aglow, and after 
an absence of fifteen minutes returned. “ Here, Imp,” 
said he, laying the package in her lap, “a Christmas 
present.” 

“ Oh, Loran, ” replied she, “ I know it is a new dress — a 
silk — the same as I have wanted for the last ten years. 
What did it cost? In it I will shine like a new silver 
dollar.” 


The “ Boreas ” and Crew. 


35 


She opened the package, and on seeing its contents 
dashed it upon the floor, breaking every bottle, and cried 
hysterically. “Nothing but old kidney medicine ! ” 

Mr. Buncom took the matter philosophically. 

There were ten seamen ; their names and capabilities 
will appear anon. I am positive I have not stated that on the 
return of my successful whaling cruise, my aunt was dead. 
She died two days before my return, and as I stepped upon 
the wharf, I saw the van of the funeral procession returning 
from the cemetery. The Chinaman was disconsolate with 
grief, and 1 let him do my portion of mourning. In token 
of my great esteem for the deceased, I named the Chinaman 
after her. Hereafter in speaking of Lib it will be in refer- 
ence to the Chinaman. Lib was an excellent cook and 
begged for a situation on my next cruise. My cook Rosin 
Sanborn, a full-blood African whom I picked up at New 
Orleans, concluded he had enough of North seas and 
resigned. However, just before I departed, he pleaded to 
accompany me as a gentleman. It is a poor enterprise that 
cannot afford one gentleman connected with it, and I 
granted his request. In fair weather he paced the deck 
from morning till night, arrayed in broadcloth, silk hat, 
and white kids, and supported a dude’s cane. 


86 


Captain Kiddle. 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE CRUISE. 

It was on Monday morning, in the early part of the 
month of June, that I weighed anchor and started upon 
my memorable cruise. Upon the wharf a crowd was 
assembled, as in the departure of every vessel. My friends 
were there to wish me a successful cruise and speedy 
return. My foes — I, like everybody else, have them — in 
their hearts wished me an unsuccessful cruise and a never 
return again. My niece was there also. How pretty she 
looked, standing beside her handsome lover ! They stood 
where my sweetheart was when awaiting to greet me, as I 
have already stated. There my aunt had also stood when 
she came to tell me how small I was getting. I saw Betsy’s 
lover stoop and kiss her cheek. He was not awkward like 
my aunt when attempting to kiss me, but kissing the air 
above my head. I beheld a tear glistening in her dark 
eye, as he left her side. She threw a kiss at him, two at 
me — the dear good girl. Then she called out, saying, “ Good- 
bye, Mat, and good-bye, Uncle John ! ” 

Dutch stood watching her, grinning like an ape, trying 
to attract her attention. At length he said, “Betsy, have 
you not a kiss for me, too?” 

“ None for apes ! ” was her reply. 

I, thought her rather impudent. The merriment she 
gave the crowd made Dutch extremely angry, and his hair 
stood straigliter than ever. He went below muttering 
something that sounded very impious. A mother was 
there to see her only son off, and the way she wept made 
me sad. Swen Anderson, a sailor, said it was blamed 
foolishness to carry on like that. Mr. Anderson, a good- 
hearted soul as ever went before the mast, was rude and 
generally blasphemed enough for the whole crew. Imp 
was there, just behind Betsy, holding something above her 
head. Presently I heard her call, saying, “ Loran, see I have 
a bottle of kidney medicine.” We started slowly at first, 


The Cruise . 


37 


when a breeze filled the sails, andthen sped along like some 
mighty bird that delights in hovering over the sea. In the 
meantime we shouted good-bye till almost hoarse, and 
waved handkerchiefs till our hands were tired. How green 
and beautiful was the shore, and my heart was sad when it 
began to recede from view. Blue was the sky above us, 
and bluer the water beneath. The wind whistled merrily 
through the rigging, and the brine frothed and foamed as 
the good ship plowed her way ; sailors sang their songs, 
Jack uttered few war-whoops, Dutch the ape grinned, and 
Mr. Sanborn the gentleman paced the deck in silence. 
When dinner was served praise to Lib was on every tongue, 
and Mr. Sanborn acted a gentleman in acknowledging 
the Mongolian his superior in the culinary department. 
Weather fine and winds favorable till off the coast of New- 
foundland, when we encountered dense fogs and head 
winds. On one occasion, the fog was so dense I could not 
see the top of Mr. Sanborn’s silk hat. He had come upon 
deck to remind us that he was still a gentleman. Dutch, 
so far, had not been on watch at all. His superior officer, 
Mr. Solomon Levy, with that love of crucifying handed 
down from generation to generation, on the foggy after- 
noon that Mr. Sanborn made his appearance upon deck, 
was heard to exclaim, “ Dutch, if you shirk another time 
I will crucify you to the mainmast and cross-tree! ” 

Heretofore Mr. Levy had watched in the Ape’s stead and 
was well compensated. There was no money in it now, 
for Dutch’s means were exhausted. Dutch went on terribly 
over the matter, saying he did not tend his services as a 
watch dog, nor did he propose to stand out in the cold, 
like grim death waiting for a consumptive patient. I 
ordered him placed in irons, but he made such faithful 
promises, calling down the vengeance of heaven on his 
mop-head if he broke them, that I let him off, though know- 
ing well his lax, pusillanimous deportment. Dutch went 
on at 10 p. M. and I felt uneasy. Just as I intended to 
dismiss him and place Mat in his stead, Mr. McFadden 
came into my room with wig on sidewise, whiskers partly 
dyed, one cheek painted, and upper teeth wanting. 

“ Captain ” said he “ I am so nervous with the Ape on duty 
that I could not half arrange my toilet.” 

His wig came off and fell upon the floor. He clapped 


88 


Captain Kiddle. 

both hands over the bald spot to conceal it from view, as 
he feared somebody might observe it in passing my door, 
which chanced to be partly ajar. 

“ Goodness, Captain ! ” continued he, “ I would not have 
had this happened for a whole cargo of oil. What if some, 
body saw that my head is bald ? I can trust you, and 
know you will never tell this on me.” 

I assured him that I would not. Except himself and a 
New York city hair-dealer, at whose establishment he 
bought the wig, I was the only person that knew he was 
bald. As he was adjusting the wig, I heard a strange 
voice shout, but did not understand what was said. Then 
came a crash. I rushed upon deck, where all was con- 
fusion. Mr. Levy was ordering the men to cast off their 
coats and get to work. Above the din I heard Mr. Ander- 
son blaspheming fearfully. The fog had lifted a little, and 
I saw lights flashing all over a large black object hard off 
the larboard. It was a transatlantic steamer that had 
struck us, carrying away the bow-sprit. For such slight 
injury we were thankful. On learning the extent of the 
damage from the collision I sought the presence of the Ape, 
whom I found in his apartments admiring himself in one of 
his glasses and stroking his beard. “ You infernal Ape,” 
cried I in loud tones, for I was angry, “ you came very near 
sending us all to the bottom. Why did you neglect your 
duty ? ” 

Replied he : “ When I saw the lights I knew she would 

pass us close by. Then realizing that I might not look 
first-class in the eyes of those upon her deck, I came in to 
take a look at myself in the glass. Really, Captain, for the 
first time since leaving home, I look first-class. At first I 
thought I would announce the steamer’s approach, and then 
concluded she would pass us safely by. You see, Captain, 
I have a good head on my shoulders, and missed my calcu- 
lations only about four feet, judging more accurately than 
you could have with all your figuring, and my smartness 
is paramount to my good looks.” 

I replied not to his braggadocia, as the steamer lay close 
off the starboard, havin turned round to ascertain the ex- 
tent of the collision. 

“ Halloo ! rather a narrow escape,” exclaimed the Captain 
from the bridge. 


The Cruise . 39 

“ Halloo ! Is that you, James ?” I shouted, for the voice 
sounded precisely like my cousin’s. 

“ It is, and is that you, John? ” 

He had no difficulty in recognizing my effeminate voice. 

“ What on earth are you doing there ? ” 

“ A short time ago my ship was condemned as unsea- 
worthy. The Cunard Company offered me a situation — 
commander of this noble ship, and thus I am here.” 

“ James, Cousin James ! ” shouted the Ape, “when you 
get home tell Betsy I am well, and hope she is the same; 
that the salt water improves my beauty.” 

“ Is that you, Ape ? ” inquired James. 

The Ape’s hair rose over his mop head, and his whisk- 
ers stuck straight out, for he was angry. 

u It is,” replied he, 41 that gentleman, Jesse Henry 
German.” * 

“ Good-bye, John.” 

“ Good-bye, James.” 

The whistle sounded, and the steel leviathan proceeded 
on her course. Mat filled the remainder of the watch, and 
the Ape stood before his glasses admiring himself. The 
slight damage was repaired the following day. On this 
day the boatswain was taken sick, and never rose from his 
bed again. When the fog rose we encountered another 
obstacle. 

“ And ice, mast-high, came floating by, 

Green as emerald.” 

The cold, bleak, ice-bound coast of Labrador lay off our 
larboard. Vast fields of ice and snow extended inland far 
as the eye could reach. For what was this country cre- 
ated? Was it always so bleak and desolate ? Across the 
Atlantic, in precisely the same latitude, my early ancestors 
made themselves a home. Dear old England ! How bleak 
and barren this little island would be had not the All-wise 
Creator sent warm waters, a Gulf Stream from southern 
seas, modifying the climate so that from out the soil man 
derives his sustenance. It was the middle of July when 
we sighted Greenland, which I think should have been 
named Whiteland or Deadland. Valley, plain, hill and 
mountain are clad in robes of eternal ice and snow, frowned 
on eternally by wintry skies. Oh, Deadland! heaped high 
with the accumulations of thousands of years of ice and 


40 


Captain Kiddle. 

snow. Mighty Deadland, twin companion to the moon ! 
It looks up to the moon and exclaims : u Oh,thou.dead orb ! ” 

The moon looks down and replies : “ Oh, thou dead 
land ! ” 

To the sun it appeals for warmth, but that mighty incan- 
descent planet sends forth a messenger — a boreal 'storm 
which drowns the appeal in its awful roar, heaping higher 
its great burden, ice and snow, beneath which Atlas him- 
self would groan. This land is now enduring the miseries 
of old age. Once it was young and fair, its youthful brow 
crowned with the olive, date, and fig bough. Birds of song 
gladdened the air, beasts roamed through the forests and 
over grassy hills. Man, too, had a home here. Beside 
laughing waters he pitched his tent, and from the sultry 
rays of a noonday sun reclined beneath his fig-laden tree, 
enraptured by lovely day-dreams, as were our first parents 
in the Garden of Eden. 

The third day after sighting Greenland, we picked up 
two Esquimaux in a canoe, a storm having carried them 
out to sea. In latitude N. 73° 1', longtitude W. 60° 13' 
59", we discovered our first whales. I remember the day 
distinctly. It was the last day of August. Mr. Levy was 
growling at our not having captured any whales yet, and 
the Ape was rejoicing because there was nothing much to 
do. Up to this day, Mr. McFadden had occupied most 
of his time in arranging his toilet. I never saw a woman 
more precise. It was shortly after 10 A. M. when Mat from 
the “ crow’s nest,” where he had ascended two hours 
previous, shouted, “ A whale to the starboard ! There she 
spouts, there she breezes ! ” 

What a commotion it made among us ! Everybody was 
enthusiastic, except the Ape. At this time Mr. McFadden 
was arranging his toilet, and had it completed except plac- 
ing in his teeth and fitting on the wig. When his wig was 
off he wore a tight-fitting silk skull cap. With it drawn close 
as possible over his cranium, he ordered his boat lowered. 
Into it he leaped, followed by two sailors and an Esqui- 
mau, and gave chase to the whale. By this time several 
whales were spouting around us. The long-boat was 
lowered next. As it struck the water, an imprudent im- 
pulse seized me, behesting me to go forth and battle against 
the oily monsters of the deep. So into the boat I got, fol- 


The Cruise . 


41 


lowed by Jack, who by this time was an excellent oars- 
man — that is, when he chose to exert himself. Then came 
Mr. Sanborn, with a silk hat on, as usual. He would do 
the harpooning if any needed to be done. Following him 
came four sailors and Mr. Leguna. Mr. Levy, Mr. Bun- 
com, as harpoon er, four sailors and the other Esquimau 
came after me in the second mate’s boat. I left the ship 
in charge of Mat and the Ape, who agreed not to look in 
his glasses till I returned. Lib in the kitchen, busy with 
his task, was not aware of what was going on. Away went 
Mr. McFadden after his whale, an old bull. He went 
south-westerly, out of which quarter the wind blew. Mr. 
Levy had now singled out a whale, the largest, save the 
one Mr. McFadden was pursuing. In the bow stood the 
old harpooner, with a heavy harpoon in his hands. When 
hard on the whale, he hurled forth the harpoon vehemently 
as a stone from a sling. The sharp instrument penetrated 
the monster’s heart, and it lay quivering amid the waves. 
I was in hot pursuit of a whale and in the bow of my boat. 
With a pair of white kids on, silk hat well on the back of 
his head stood Mr. Sanborn, leaning slightly upon his har- 
poon, as much at ease as in a billiard parlor supporting 
himself with a cue. We came up alongside the whale, and 
I was afraid my gentleman would assume the same rSle as 
during the voyage. I was about to speak to him, when 
quick, so rapid that my eye failed to catch the movement, 
he raised the harpoon and plunged it into the whale, which 
hardly quivered a fin. Then he sat down without a single 
word. 

44 Well done, my gentleman ! ” said I. 

44 Cap’n, I’se a gentle’n,” replied he. 

On casting my eye toward the ship, I saw Mat in the 
rigging furling a sail that had come untied. The sail gave 
a violent flap, and the next moment I saw him fall, head 
downward, into the sea. 

“ Oh, God, save him ! ” I cried. 44 Men, pull for the 
ship ! Pull ! or he is lost ! ” 

Mr. Sanborn took a pair of oars at which two men were 
working, and with a Herculean stroke the boat shot for- 
ward as if propelled by a powerful engine. I saw the Ape 
cast a line overboard, which Mat grasped. 

“ God be praised,” said I, 44 for he is saved ! ” 


42 


Captain Kiddlt. 

Instead of hauling in the line, Dutch let it out its entire 
length and made the end fast to a shroud. 

“ Dutch, for God’s sake, pull, pull ! ” I shouted. 

He laughed a scornful laugh and left the deck. It was 
fifteen minutes before we could overtake the ship, 
which was flying before a gale that had suddenly sprung 
up. Mr. Sanborn grasped the line and pulled Mat into 
the boat. It was too late, oh, too late ! for the Prome- 
thean spark had fled. On the bottom of the boat, with 
curls full of salt, eyes wide open, a smile on his face, no 
doubt in his last moments thinking of Betsy, with both 
hands clinging to the rope, lay the body of my poor boy. 
I was sick at heart, and throwing myself down beside the 
body, I exclaimed, “ My boy ! my noble boy ! ” 

Mr. Sanborn, the faithful soul, joined me in weeping. I 
never knew anything to move him before, except a kick on 
the shins which Mr. Levy once gave him, and he retali- 
ated by butting his adversary in the stomach, which warped 
him double. Mr. Sanborn climbed aboard and brought the 
ship about, heading her toward Mr. Levy, who was liable 
to be swamped. Mr. Levy had his whale in tow and also 
mine. Mr. McFadden was out of sight. In my over- 
whelming grief I forgot the safety of the boats and gave 
up to despair. Mr. Sanborn acted captain pro tem. He 
ordered two men into the rigging to secure the sail that 
swept Mat overboard, and the remainder to hoist the long- 
boat. 

Mr. Levy was now close by ; he sat on the stern shout- 
ing to his nun, “ Pull, pull, you dogs ! ” 

The harder the men pulled the louder he shouted. On 
taking him aboard, and with the whales in tow, w'e turned 
toward Mr. McFadden, who was seen a few minutes before 
upon the crest of a large wave. Again he rose, called for 
help, and disappeared. He came up again, and as he went 
down the wave broke and swamped him. A wild shout 
for help, a few moments of struggling, and that was the 
last of Mr. McFadden, Patrick Lennehan, John Stevens 
(these being the sailors’ names, who were excellent men), 
and the Esquimau. Seeing these brave men perish be- 
fore my eyes augmented my grief. I was almost insane 
and rushed frantically about the deck. On passing the 
Ape’s door I heard him soliloquizing thus: “Now that the 


The Cruise. 


43 


young Dutchman is dead, for which I am not at all sorry, 
the obstacle is removed. There is nothing now between 
Betsy and me. On my return I will marry her, and we 
will live in that little Bantam rooster’s house and enjoy 
ourselves on his ill-gotten cash. That old dude, McFad- 
den, will not have to paint any more ; a shark will devour 
him as quickly as if painted up like a new steam fire en- 
gine. His death leaves a vacancy, and of course I will fill 
it, as nobody else is competent. Well, well, Prince Jesse 
Henry German, you are in luck. Death, the so-called 
‘greatest of evils,’ is your adminicular friend. As each 
day goes by the more beautiful you become. Truly, you 
are the Adonis of modern times.” 

I could stand it no longer. I rushed in and smote him 
with all my might on the cheek, nearly breaking my wrist, 
which I carried in a sling the following six weeks. The 
Ape brayed out, like Balaam’s ass, “Why smitest thou 
me ? ” 

Then I heard a voice which I knew to be Mr. Levy’s 
cry, “ Crucify him ! ” 

Mr. Anderson, on uttering several fearful oaths that 
made me shudder, shouted, “ Hang him to the yard-arm ! ” 

Jack shouted next, saying, “ Burn him at the stake ! ” 

This was the way his ancestors had inflicted death upon 
several early gold diggers. 

Lib shouted in broken English, “ Behead him ! ” 

Another voice, still more broken, shouted, “Strangle 
him ! ” 

This was the Esquimau edict. 

“ Let me butt him to death ! ” said Mr. Sanborn, com- 
ing forward with hat off and head lowered. He had quite 
forgotten that this would be unbecoming to a gentleman. 

“ Harm him not,” said I, “ for he is non compos mentis , 
therefore is not accountable for his actions.” 

It was after much coaxing that I could induce Mr. 
Sanborn to put on his hat, which I made him agree not to 
remove till ready to retire. He kept it on all night, as he 
watched over Mat’s remains. I knew the Ape was safe 
from his head so long as his hat was on. I had no fear 
of him breaking his promise, for he was truly leal. Night 
came on, dark and dismal, and clouds hung low. The 
high rolling waves seemed to lave them. Icebergs on 


44 Captain Kiddle. 

every hand crashed together and fell apart with an awful 
roar. I realized the solemnity of death, as everything was 
so deathlike. Thought I : 

How solemn and deep this inmost thought 
That’s enthralled within my breast ; 

’Tis as some immutable cataract’s roar 
That adorns the tranquil hour of Night ; 

Or like the noon-day sun that becomes wan 
In skies momentarily ago benign, 

Or as fair young leaves that wither 

When Spring endows the Universe with new life. 

I stood before Mr. McFadden’s door and no light shone 
from the room. I entered, struck a match, and held it in 
my fingers till it burned them. Then I struck another 
and lit the lamp. Everything was in perfect order. On 
the dressing-case lay his wig and teeth. I rolled the wig 
up carefully and placed it in my pocket, as I did not want 
anybody to know that the deceased entered eternity bald- 
headed. In a little round tin box was something red, 
quite hard, resembling stencil paint. I wet a finger and 
drew it athwart the substance, which made it red as could 
be. I drew the finger across my cheek and it left a red 
mark. How the deceased managed to get it on so even I 
cannot say. As I stood experimenting with it I heard the 
Ape at prayer. He was thankful for having been spared. 
According to his views, the unfortunates were so obnox- 
ious, in the sight of the Lord, on account of not being 
Lutherans, that He bade the sea to hide them from view 
forever. He went on in about the same strain for half an 
hour, when Mr. Buncom begun his evening devotions, 
which exasperated him. At length he called out, saying, 
“ Old Praying Calf, let up a little ! ” 

Mr. Sanborn took my hand and led me, as a mother leads 
her child, to my quarters, and on pointing out the bed, 
said, “ Dar, massa.” He was a man of few words, and 
despite his race there was something grand about him. I 
can hardly tell what it was, unless his laconic speech and 
trustworthiness. The night wore away slowly. The 
ticking of my watch at the head of my bed sounded louder 
than one of those little round Seth Thomas clocks. The 
wails of the Esquimau mourning the loss of his brother — 
they were twins — made me more miserable. In the morn- 


The Cruise. 


45 


in g when I rose, about 9 o’clock, the body of iny boy was 
in its casket, made of canvas, like we use at sea. At the 
feet were placed heavy fragments of iron from a blubber 
kettle broken a few days before by accident. I wanted to 
cast it overboard, but Mat hindered me, saying: 

44 Uncle John, it would be useful should any of us take 
passage on the Phantom Ship to that port we know nothing 

Little then did he think he was saving it to sink his own 
body. Mr. Buncom read the burial service, as I felt too 
ill. There we stood, bareheaded, with the exception of 
Lib, who retained his cap, that Jack might not get at his 
cue, had he been so disposed. After a fervent prayer, the 
body was placed on a plank and slid over the rail, feet 
foremost. A splash, two large bubbles and several small 
ones — a farewell to Betsy, myself and friends, and that 
was the last of noble Mat Lugent. I raised the flag at 
half-mast, and retired to my quarters to keep the day, out 
of respect for the unfortunate. Presently I heard Mr. 
Levy calling the men out of the forecastle, where they had 
assembled to enjoy themselves, looking upon the matter as 
a holiday. 

44 You lazy dogs, come out of that,” roared Mr. Levy. 

Mr. Anderson, uttering but a single oath, came out 
with a mug of grog in one hand and a portion of a eucher 
deck in the other, and inquired what was wanting. 

44 There is no time to mourn. This is our harvest ; al- 
ready the sun has passed the meridian. Night will soon 
be upon us, and we cannot work on account of darkness. 
If the dead actually need mourning over, wait till our 
work is finished, then I will array myself in sackcloth and 
ashes and mourn, like my ancestors have over the walls of 
Zion for nearly two thousand years.” 

Mr. Buncom and four sailors went out and captured two 
large whales. The crew, excluding Mr. Sanborn, the Ape, 
Jack, and myself, put in a good day at cutting up whales. 
That evening I promoted Mr. Levy to the office of first 
mate, Swen Anderson second mate, and Robert Hurry 
third mate. We had no difficulty in getting whales fast 
as we could dispose of their carcasses. On the first day 
of December we set sail for home with a first-class cargo 
of oil. 


46 


Captain Kiddle. 


CHAPTER Y. 

FROZEN IN. 

The Arctic winter was at hand — a cold, ominous sky 
frowning on us, and a mordacious gale benumbing us the 
morning we turned our prow homeward, down a narrow 
channel, as on both hands lay great ice floes. The floes 
were gradually coming together, having already met not 
above one league behind us. As far to the south as my 
glasses enabled me to see, the floes extended. What if 
they should crash together while we were between them ? 
Our fate would be sealed. 

The ship made excellent headway before a brisk wind. 
It was fast becoming intensely cold. A new danger arose ; 
we were liable to be frozen in. At 9 P. M. the channel 
skimmed over, and ice thickened rapidly. Before long it 
began grinding at the prow. By midnight our progress 
was slow and laborious. I was afraid the ice would wear 
the prow sufficiently to spring a fatal leak, and ordered 
sail taken in. 

“ This is a serious situation,” said Mr. Buncom. 

“Yes,” replied I, “ but hope we can get through some- 
how or other. Open sea cannot be many leagues ahead.” 

When I ordered sail taken in, I saw the waves of an 
open sea flashing in the moonlight, close to the horizon. 
The moon was full, making it almost light as day. It 
was intensely cold for the next thirty-six hours — so cold 
that no human being could stand it long out-doors. It 
compelled Mr. Sanborn to lay aside his silk hat and put 
on a fur cap. The Ape did not mind it much, for it gave 
him plenty of time to look in his glasses. If Mr. Ander- 
son contemplated blasphemy he did not swear at all. Mr. 
Levy growled because no work was being done. Once he 
went upon deck and returned immediately with his great 
aquiline nose severely frosted, which silenced him. When 
it had moderated somewhat we set to work cutting away 


Frozen In. 


47 


the ice from around and before the ship, hoping to pass her 
through to open water. We made slow progress, as the 
ice was about two feet thick. I noticed that the open 
water seemed farther away. Mr. Sanborn, and I, after 
traveling three leagues, came to the end of the floes, to 
which was joined a small patch of new ice. The following 
day we visited the place again, and imagine our surprise on 
seeing above one league' of new ice nearly one foot thick. 
With all the cutting we had made only one hundred yards. 
It was useless to do anything more in this line, and we 
concluded to pass the winter amid the ice. On taking an 
observation I found we were in latitude N. 75° 9' 59 ' 
longitude, W. 70° 0' 1". We were in forty fathoms of 
water, bottom blue mud. The sails were taken off and 
stored below, with the exception of those we spread out 
upon the deck to keep out the cold. Upon the sails three 
feet of snow was heaped and the sides of the ship banked 
with snow, which made it very comfortable within. So 
cozy was it within that it took away the dreariness of our 
environments. Mr. Sanborn in acting a gentleman was 
happy to such a degree that happiness becomes its own 
Nemesis. Second in happiness was the Ape, who habitually 
admired himself in his glasses. Mr. Levy, with that 
restless cast of countenance coherent only to the fabled 
Hebrew wanderer, wandered like the Wandering Jew, 
round the room. Around and round he paced as if fast- 
ened to Ixion’s wheel. Though notwithstanding being 
among us, on high seas, the public domain, he founcf not a 
home. No matter in what portion of the earth he might have 
been, he could not have called it home. He, a solitary 
mortal, of a once mighty nation, the chosen of God, so 
proud and arrogant as not to receive the Redeemer of all 
mankind, because He came not as a mighty potentate 
bidding poor mortals to fall prostrate at His feet out of 
fear, was under the curse inflicted upon his ancestors. 
When the Almighty’s displeasure is over, graclualty 
lessening with the fleeting years, He will call them to- 
gether from the four corners of the earth and re-establish 
them in Zion. In the great mysterious hereafter, we who 
have called the displeasure of the Almighty down on our 
heads, must, as I sincerely believe, act the Wandering Jew ; 
wander and wander through strange lands, persecuted by 


48 Captain Kiddle . 

strange people till our penance is done, and then we will 
be restored to the glories of New Zion. On reading our 
limited store of books, newspapers, and periodicals, it be- 
came monotonous, like life in the guard-house, a dyna- 
miter’s in his iron cell, or a night policeman’s on his lonely 
beat, beholding naught except familiar buildings, empty 
streets, clear, starlit or stormy skies. Songs were sung till 
they became old, and jarred upon the ear like the notes of 
an Italian organ-grinder’s instrument playing before your 
window regularly four times each day the month through, 
because you chanced to give the monkey a few pennies 
hoping to rid yourself of the nuisance. An organ-grinder 
is like grim death when you give him the least encourage- 
ment ; he knows not when his presence becomes obnoxious. 
The most ambiguous stories were told, and at length 
seemed facts, easy to demonstrate as the most simple 
algebraic problem. One morning I was amused and 
laughed heartily, the first time since Mat’s death. I hap- 
pened to pass by the Ape’s headquarters, before which Mr. 
Sanborn stood with his great jovial face much distorted by 
grins. His mouth was stretched so wide I could see every 
tooth in his head. Pointing to the open door, I saw several 
slats nailed perpendicularly to the casing; he said, “ Look 
dar, Massa.” 

Over the door on a cardboard in the third mate’s excel- 
lent hand was written : 

“ Darwin’s Missing Link ! 

25 cents a peep.” 

I peeped between the bars and saw the “Missing Link” 
grinning, and at length he said, “ I have often wondered 
why my prepossessing appearance did not, attract attention 
before/’ 

Gazing ,in the glass opposite the door he exclaimed, 
“Behold the modern Adonis, Prince Jesse Henry Ger- 
man ! ” 

“ Behold Darwin’s missing link ” said I, going my way. 
After I gave Mr. Sanborn a silver quarter, I returned to 
where the men were assembled, and announced there was 
a museum aboard. Mr. Buncom went first and returned 
erstwhile, saying the sight gave him as much satisfaction 
in his post-meridian days as a circus and menagerie com- 
bined used to in his juvenile days, when he filched enough 


Frozen In. 


49 


currants from the bushes to obtain mean to purchase a 
ticket. One by one the men went, and returned expressing 
complete satisfaction. Lib came back laughing almost 
like an hysterical woman. 

“ Allee samee as monkey,” he exclaimed, clapping his 
hand upon his side and adding greater vigor to his laughter. 
Jack, the only one that peeped on a deadhead ticket, came 
back with a countenance more sober than usual. I never 
saw him laugh or manifest the least surprise or fear. At 
length he said, “ Heap damned monkey.” 

Mr. Levy ceased his wandering and went to the museum. 
After considerable parleying with the doorkeeper, he paid 
his quarter, took a peep, came back wringing his hands 
and crying, “Oh, why did I not think of that! Three 
dollars lost. I swear by the great prophet Levy, I am a 
ruined man.” 

He rushed frantically round the room, wringing his 
hands and shouting, “ Three dollars lost ! ” 

I tried to quiet him, but it was of nowise, as he was in 
one of his worst avaricious moods. On becoming vexed 
with him, I sought Mr. Sanborn, who was counting his 
money. The Ape, leaning against the slats, observed the 
counting of the money he had been the means of putting 
in the darkey’s pocket, grinned, and remarked in egotistical 
tones, “ My beauty is worth a fortune. On it I could 
travel the world over, winning the admiration of kings. 
Queens would be willing to cast aside their crowns and fol- 
low me from the palace even down to a beer garden. Oh, 
by the way, I would never stoop that low, and ” 

“ Read this,” said I, interrupting him, as T thrust the 
cardboard between the slats. I had taken it from over the 
door while he was vaunting. He took it, and on spelling 
out its contents, smote his breast and roared, “ Oh, have I 
been thus imposed upon by that black villain ! The crowd 
came to admire me as an ape, not a beauty. I shall avenge 
this dastardly insult.” 

He made an attempt to burst the slats, but Mr. Sanborn 
stood with head lowered, eyes flashing, and said, “ Look 
out dar, chile.” The Ape withdrew, threw himself in his 
bunk, covered his face with his hands and wept. Some- 
times I have thought that Mr. Sanborn carried the joke 
too far, but it had a decided influence upon Dutch. After 


50 


Captain Kiddle . 

that I never heard him extol his supposed beauty. The 
hallucination that he was beautiful no doubt furnished him 
many a pleasant thought, which otherwise would have been 
gloomy. That he was a little “ soft,” as it is termed, at 
the top of his mop head, is clearly established. For this 
defect he was not at all to blame, as it was hereditary. 
His sister, ere she bloomed into womanhood, had to be 
taken to an asylum for the feeble-minded. However, there 
was an evil, a self-begot one, that cost him his life, of 
which I will presently speak, that I bitterly denounce him 
for. This little episode made us hilarious for a fortnight, 
in which Christmas occurred. Under the circumstances, 
we enjoyed a merry Christmas. When we began to re- 
flect seriously upon our sombre situation, Mr. Sanborn 
came forward and treated us to a series of speeches, songs, 
jokes, jigs, and tunes on the banjo. He was a comical 
genius. Till now I never supposed he possessed one whit 
of humor, as he ljad never made any manifestation of it, 
though for years he had been a minstrel. He was so 
original that he outshone the burnt-cork artists as does a 
diamond its imitation of paste. When these ebullitions of 
wit and mirth were over he became the same sober, unos- 
tentatious individual. One of his songs was thus : 

“ O, wliar am de whale we killed and biled ? 

He am in the barrel, swimmin’ in ile, 

Swimmin’ all night till early morn, 

Happy as de banjo of Rosin Sanborn. 

Chorus : 

“ Den listen to my banjo’s call, 

Sayin’ come all ye children, great an’ small 
For de Lord surely lubs you all. 

‘ O, whar am de yaller gal dat I sparked ? 

She am in de Souf, singin’ like de lark, 

Singin’ from morn till it am late 
Just like a bird wib its mate. 

Cho.— - 

“ O, whar am massa wiiom I lub 
Next to my great Massa above, 

He am on de ship dat’s frozen in, 

And He will take us home like de win’.” 


Frozen In . 


51 


When the hilarious influence of Mr. Sanborn s perform- 
ances wore away, Jack made his appearance upon the 
stage, and did himself credit as an utterer of war-whoops. 
He went perfectly wild in a war dance, and induced us to 
believe he was on the war-path. After the dance was fin- 
ished, he asked for a victim to scalp. I knew of nobody so 
well fitted for the purpose as Dutch, whom I recommend- 
ed highly. This was the only recommendation I ever gave 
him. 

He declined, saying he had been put up once for our 
amusement, and thought it no more than right that some- 
body else should act. A day or two afterwards, Lib made 
his appearance, as a slight-of-hand performer, but his per- 
formance was so clumsy, that he made a complete failure. 
While we had been given up to hilarity, the Esquimau, 
an industrious body, was busy catching seals. A few days 
after we were frozen in, he observed several small holes in 
the ice close behind the ship. These were the seals' breath- 
ing holes, at which he watched patiently, and when one came 
for a sniff of air, it fell a victim to the Esquimau’s spear. 

When he had caught six seals, he began making me a 
suit from their skins. When completed I gave him six 
five-dollar gold coins. He bored each one through the 
center, strung them on a string, and tied them about his 
neck. I tried to persuade him that the proper place for 
the coin, was in his pocket, but he was invincible. He 
wanted people fb know he had money, or did he wear them 
for ornamentation ? This gave me a theme to speculate on. 
Somehow, it is my misfortune to speculate on some trifling 
theme. Does a lady when out upon the street, carry her 
purse in her hand to let people know she has money, or 
does she merely carry it for ostentation ? I intend to in- 
vent a lady’s purse with glass sides, and then if the ladies 
must show their purse, we men folks can have the gratifi- 
cation of seeing its contents. Mr. Buncom wanted the next 
suit, should the Esquimau catch more seals. On inspect- 
ing him the Esquimau remarked that he might grant his 
request, if he could catch every seal the sea contained. He 
insinuated that Mr. Buncom would look more natural, in 
bear-skin. At different times I had noticed the tracks of 
Polar bears around the ship, they having scented the blood 
of the seals. One evening, when about to retire, I chanced 


52 


Captain Kiddle . 

to go upon deck and saw a monstrous bear about midships. 

I hastened below, armed myself with a heavy rifle, and re- 
turned, but the bear was gone. In the morning Mr. Bun- 
com, armed with a Winchester repeating rifle, my pair of 
Colt navy revolvers, Mr. Anderson Avith my favorite rifle, 
a Marlin reporter, started down the floe. However, before 
going far, Mr. Buncom turned round and exchanged the 
revolvers for his harpoon, and Mr. Anderson strapped the dis. 
carded arms about his waist. On going about one hundred 
rods, a little to the right, peering from round a mass of ice* 
they beheld a large bear, undoubtedly the identical one I 
saw upon deck. Mr. Buncom in his excitement (a bear was- 
the only object that adawed him) to get a little nearer 
bruin, fell headlong into a crevice betAveen tAvo masses of 
ice. In falling he lost his rifle, AAdiich he Avould have followed 
to the bottom of the sea, had not his harpoon f$ll across the 
fissure, to which he clung with his left hand and called for 
help. Mr. Anderson came to his assistance and laid his 
rifle down just behind himself. The bear, thinking more 
help was needed, came also. 

“ What am I to do ?.” inquired Mr. Anderson, flat on his 
stomach, pulling with all his might on the hands of his com- 
rade, who had relinquished his hold of the harpoon. 

“ Pull me out, of course,” replied M*. Buncom. 

Just then the bear grabbed Mr. Anderson’s left foot, and 
closed its jaws with a vice-like grip. Fortunately Mr. 
Anderson had on a pair of heavy boots, or his foot would 
have been crushed. The bear gave a savage growl and be- 
gan pulling backwards. Out came Mr. Buncom trying to 
grasp his harpoon. The bear started backwards coming 
directly toward the ship. It must have thought it was going 
in the opposite direction. On it came, dragging Mr. Ander- 
son, who for some reason or other, still clung to Mr. Bun- 
com’s left hand. I stood at the ship’s proAV, with rifle cock- 
ed, waiting for the bear to approach a little nearer. I Avas 
afraid to fire, fearing I might hit one of the men. On came 
the trio, only ten rods aAvay noAV, and I took aim. 

“ Fire, you little Bantam rooster ; why don’t you fire ? ’ y 

I lowered my Aveapon and looked up Avlience the voice, 
came. Out upon the bowsprit, holding on a rope stood the 
Ape, grinning. On came the bear and Mr. Anderson 
blaspheming at the top of his voice. I leveled my Aveapon, 


Frozen In. 


53 


took deliberate aim, and pulled, as I thought, on the trigger. 
The hammer would not descend. I looked, and my finger 
was clutching the guard. This compelled me to aim 
anew, and as I did so the bear was hardly two feet from 
the muzzle of my gun. Suddenly bruin turned side too. 
With the muzzle of my rifle within six inches of the bear’s 
heart I fired, and it fell lifeless beside Mr. Anderson. 
The moment I saw bruin fall was the proudest of my ad- 
venturous life. 

“ Bravo ! ” I cried. u What a splendid display of marks- 
manship.” 

Why should I not be proud? By a well-directed shot 
I slew a bear that might at any moment have killed two 
men. It must have sounded rather egotistic as I ex- 
claimed, “ Captain John Digger Kiddle, the great bear 
hunter.” 

When bruin fell, Mr. Anderson rose upon his knees and 
blasphemed as usual. His foot was lacerated and bruised, 
though not seriously. I ordered the bear skinned care- 
fully as possible, as I intended to have the skin stuffed, 
and place it in the hallway of my old home, beneath a 
monstrous pair of antlers that hung from the wall. These 
antlers were from the head of a buck Mat killed in the 
Adirondack mountains while on a hunting and fishing 
trip. With the same gun I made my remarkable shot, at 
half a mile range he slew the deer. For weeks after Hs 
arrival home he talked constantly about his excellent shot. 
At length I began to think his # head was turned. Then I 
did not realize the true degree of a successful hunter. 
The Esquimau skinned the bear to my complete satis- 
faction. I noticed that Mr. Sanborn had laid aside his 
broadcloth, silk hat, white kids, and was arrayed in every- 
day attire. He was out with the Esquimau watching 
for seals. At the end of the sixth day he had speared four 
seals ; from their skins, together with what the Esquimau 
gave him, he made himself a suit, skull-cap, and a pair of 
gloves. 

While we were frozen in several aurora displays had 
taken place, and the most remarkable one I will describe, 
using the language of an eminent person connected with a 
polar expedition : “ A bright auroral curtain about 10° 

above the horizon, from east-south-east to north-west, gener- 


54 


Captain Kiddle, 


ally white, but occasionally showing a green shade, and 
rarely a brownish-red color, which disappeared soon as seen. 
Above this curtain the sky was of a deep blue-black 
color, through which the stars shone brilliantly, as they 
did through the deepest part of the curtain. Above the 
deep blue-black color there were irregular spirals and 
streaks of white light, which were in constant motion, ap- 
pearing and disappearing rapidly. From east to west 
through zenith was an irregular arch formed of detached 
streaks of brownisli-red li 1 ’ 1 ’ ih white light 



would suddenly appear 


vanish. This 


arch was 5° broad. Stars shone with apparently un- 
diminished brilliancy through the deepest color.” 


Shipwreck . 


56 


CHAPTER VI. 

SHIPWRECK. 

For the past three days I was happy, exceedingly so, 
experiencing to the fullest degree that happiness in- 
variably followed by protracted remorse and sorrow. 
Were it not for these little spells of happiness we would 
be crushed to death beneath the mighty juggernaut, 
Sorrow. Happiness is as a comet in our mortal sky — the 
forerunner of sorrow. Within this brief spell I contem- 
plated much, and some of my meditations were thus: 
Have I not had comfortable quarters and plenty of every- 
thing good to eat ? Here, in this remote ice-bound region, 
so far as I know, hundreds of miles from any other human 
habitation, have I not enjoyed luxuries which the poor 
unfortunate at home in the midst of plenttude are de- 
prived of ? Am I compelled to tread the frozen pavement 
barefoot, soliciting alms, like many a neglected urchin, not 
much smaller than myself in stature, but aged many years 
less? None of these miseries bid me attend Poverty’s 
banquet, and sip my own tears from Starvation’s goblet. 
With my ready means at home, and what my cargo of oil 
would net, I had all that my heart could wish for. On 
arriving home I intended not to “pull down my barns” 
in order to make them larger, but I would reshingle and 
repaint the old barn. I would remodel the house a little, 
put a bay-window in the south room, which was my 
father’s, take out the small old-fashioned windows and put 
in large ones like we use now-a-days. On the north side 
I would build a wing, furnish it handsomely for Betsy and 
her parents. Annie, that is my sister’s name, married a 
worthless young fellow, contrary to my father’s wishes. 
It was his desire, his prayer, that she should wed his friend, 
Captain William Sylvester, a widower with six small chil- 
dren. Annie could not bear the thought of being tied 
down to such a houseful of little “ brats,” as she called 


56 


Captain Kiddle. 

them. I did not blame her, and told her she had better 
live in single-blessedness all the days of her life, or till she 
became a morose old maid, and then on the first windy 
day mount a broom, go skyward, and sweep the mists from 
a nimbus sky, than accede to her father’s exigency. 
Unknown to my father she kept company with a glass- 
eater in a dime museum in town, and married him on the 
very day my father had appointed for her to wed his friend. 
The high, indecorous board fence in front of the house 
I would tear away, and put up an ornamental iron one. 

The evening of the wTeck, January 5th, as I lay listening 
to Mr. Sanborn playing the banjo, all at once I became 
nervous and knew not the cause. I had not been engaged 
in any love affair, that I knew very well ; nor was 1 jeal- 
ously nervous over the fact that the object of my affec- 
tions preferred my rival’s society in preference to my own. 
Had I been superstitious I should have attributed it to the 
fact of seeing rats by the dozen — we were infested with 
rats — leave the ship. Mr. Anderson also saw them, and 
swore a great deal. He declared that some of us, if not all, 
would soon be at our rope’s end. The more I thought of 
his assertion the more nervous I became. I tried to laugh 
away the idea that a rat has any prophetic powers, but 
now I actually believe it has. Mr. Sanborn had now 
ceased playing, and I heard the wind howling through the 
rigging. It was more of a moan than a howl. The ship 
trembled as the gale was disturbing the floe. The more I 
tried to drop off asleep the wider awake I became. At 
length 1 dressed and sought Mr. Sanborn. At his door I 
paused and said, “ Old fellow, are you awake?” 

“Yes, sail,” replied he. 

I opened the door; sitting upon the edge of his bunk, in 
his underclothes, leaning heavily forward with both hands 
before his face, sat Mr. Sanborn. 

“ Oh ! massa,” said he taking his hands from his face, and 
I saw tears in liis eyes. 

“ What is it, Mr. Sanborn ? ” 

“ I dream awful dream. ” 

“ Nonsense ! A man of your intelligence should not 
believe in dreams.” 

“ Sah, I do. I dream ob rats ; dis ship full ob rats. Dey 
all lebe de ship, ebery one wib its mouf full ob grub. My 


Shipwreck. 57 

ole fodder, black as de ace ob spades, came to me wib his 
face white as chalk, an’ says, “ Chile, get out ob de ship. ” 

“ Give me a little music. ” 

He took the banjo from the wall at the head of his bunk, 
and began a melancholy air. 

“ Let us have something lively play Captain Jinks. ” 

He commenced. I stepped to the middle of the floor and 
begana jig, one that I learned in early youth, when foolish, — 
I wanted to become a dancing master. Soon as my father 
learned of my aspirations he took me to the barn, carrying 
in his hand about three feet of an inch rope. I knew what 
was to follow. 

Said I . ‘‘Father I do not want to become a dancing 
master. ” 

“ You must dance to my music though it be coarse and 
rude. ” 

He struck me with the rope, and with a howl of pain I 
began dancing, and he laying on the rope. Having taken 
all the fancy steps my master taught me I began some of 
my own invention, which my master would have criticised 
severely had he been present. 

At length my father said, “Johnny, anytime you feel 
like dancing let me know, and I will furnish the music. ” 

Thus sunk into obscurity the glorious dreams of becom- 
ing a dancing master. 

The vessel gave a lurch, I ceased my nonsense and went 
upon deck. The wind blew a hurricane, and the ice began 
piling up. At the northwest, whence came the gale, by the 
light of the moon I saw a mountain of ice coining directly 
toward us. Had we been in open water, should not have 
feared it at all, as we could have got out the way. It 
plowed its way through the floe like a pair of shears cutting 
paper. I shouted, “ All hands on deck ! ” 

My voice was drowned by the gale. Even had it been 
calm, the command would have hardly been intelligible as 
my voice trembled so. Just then Mr. Sanborn came upon 
deck. Pointing out the iceberg, he said, “ Look dar, massa I ” 

Said I to him : “ Shout ‘ All hands on deck.’ ” 

He misunderstood me, and shouted — “ Shout all hands 
on deck ! ” 

His voice brought out Mr. Anderson, who, thinking he 
was the victim of a practical joke, said in tones of anger, 


58 


Captain Kiddle . 

“You blasted nigger, what do you mean by calling me out 
to help serenade the winds? ” 

When Mr. Anderson heard the roar of breaking ice and 
saw the iceberg approaching, he swore considerably, and 
shouted, “ All hands on deck ! ” 

This brought out all except Dutch and the boatswain, 
who was a little on the mend. Shaped precisely like a 
plow, with landside toward the stern, yoked to the hur- 
ricane, guided by the grim giant Destruction, came the ice- 
berg. We stood aghast at the prow, watching it plow its 
way. Surely it would miss us, and make a channel to 
open seas ! We looked upon it as an adminicular friend. 
Alas ! it soon changed to an enemy. The giant, seeing he 
would not harm us if keeping straight on, gave his plow a 
little more land. We saw that our doom was sealed and I 
shouted, “ Run astern ! ” 

Just as we reached the stern the iceberg struck us 
exactly amidships and cut the ship in twain as if sev- 
ered with a saw. I heard a shriek, and the next 
moment was cast upon a pile of broken-up ice. The 
rear part of the ship lay below me, on which stood the 
crew. Mr. Sanborn began counting he.ads, and on perceiv- 
ing I was missing, inquired, “ Whar am massa?” 

“ Up here,” replied I. 

“ Up there to crow, eh, you little Bantam rooster?” said 
the Ape with a grin. 

Mr. Sanborn climbed up the mast and assisted me down 
on deck. Mr. Anderson, recovered a little from his 
fright, begun to swear. Mr. Buncom rebuked him by say- 
ing, “You should be thankful that your life is spared.” 

“• Spared for what ? To suffer the agonies of one thousand 
deaths from cold and hunger ? As I have been in this predica- 
ment, before I fully realize what it means.” 

The wreck remained in an upright position. I de- 
scended into my quarters, and nothing was disturbed. 
With dread I went toward the boatswain’s room, exactly 
a midships. I knew he must be killed or carried away and 
drowned. I opened the door ; a ghastly sight met my gaze : 
A head resting upon the right arm, cut off clean as if by a 
beheader’s axe, was all that remained of the poor boatswain. 
Two feet of the bunk remained in which the remains lay. 
Then I heard the Ape shrieking. Thinking something might 


Shipwreck. 59 

have befallen him, I went to render assistance. His 
room was severed exactly through the centre. On the 
walls was part of two looking-glasses, cut through the 
centre as if cut by a diamond. He was wailing over their 
destruction. Upon the floor lay my rifle, with two inches 
of the muzzle cut off smoothly as if the work of a gun 
smith s saw , I had lent my gun to the Ape on the pretence 
of his wanting to kill a bear. Most of the provisions were 
stored astern. I descended into the store-room, and found 
them not at all damaged. Several barrels of oil were cut 
through the centre and a portion of their contents lay 
upon the floor. What mysterious power had the iceberg 
that it could sever things with such ease and smoothness ? 
It is a problem that I have never been able to solve. The 
heap of ice upon which I was cast began falling asunder. 
The wreck set upon several large cakes, and when one of 
them slid out I saw it settle. The long-boat, by good 
fortune, was not injured. I ordered it lowered and filled 
with provisions. Some canvas was also placed in it ; this 
was to be made into a sail when we needed one. Those in 
the forecastle lost their entire effects, making us short of 
bedding. My boat, and also the first mate’s, had escaped 
uninjured. We lowered them on the ice, and placed in the 
remainder of our chattels. With the two whole looking- 
glasses under his arm the Ape came forward, forgetting his 
clothes and bedding. Mr. Anderson seized hold the glasses 
and threw them over the heap I lodged on, breaking them 
in fragments. He warned him not to complain at all, or he 
would be left with the wreck. The compass, charts^ etc., 
were carefully rolled in my bear-skin and placed under the 
stern seat of my boat. 

44 We are ready for the sea, ” said I. 

Mr. Sanborn reminded me that all the arms were yet in 
the wreck. He, Mr. Anderson, and I, entered the wreck 
and took therefrom six Winchester repeating rifles, one 
thousand rounds of cartridges for the same ; my favorite 
rifle, one hundred rounds for it ; my pair of Colt navy re- 
volvers ; a breech-loading shot gun, one thousand cartridges 
for it; two ten pound cans of rifle powder, ten boxes of gun 
caps, twenty pounds of lead for bullets, and seven cut- 
lasses. When we got these from the wreck it keeled over, 
filled with water, and sunk. The outlook was so dismal 


60 Captain Kiddle. 

I yearned to have gone down with the wreck. Here we 
were on a fragment of ice, about the middle of Baffin’s 
Bay in Polar midwinter, with hardly any protection at all 
from the gelid weather. The iceberg, a heartless landlord, 
brought ruin upon us for occupying an ace of his thousands 
and thousands of leagues of territory. Had we remained 
where we were when first frozen in we would have escaped. 
But who could tell it was best to have remained there ? 
As men, we did our duty in trying to cut our way through 
to open seas. Could we have foretold our calamity one 
hour, how much our condition would have been ameliorated. 
Just one hour’s foretelling, oh, what years of remorse and 
sorrow we might avoid ! What hearts would never have 
broken could they have foreseen one hour ! It is well that 
it is so. We grope our way amid doubt and fear. If 
fortune favors us, we call life a success and win the vain 
applause of our fellow-beings. If the goddess frowns on us 
we are left to ourselves in darkness to brave the odium of 
poverty, neglect, and scorn. Nobody cares whether we 
live or die, and when the end comes, as it must to all, our 
only requiem uttered by censorious lips is — He was a 
failure ! 


Starvation. 


61 


CHAPTER VII. 

STARVATION. 

We sat in our boats waiting for the block of ice upon 
which we rested to slide off into the water, and did not 
have to wait long. We were upon water once more, but in 
a much different condition than we ever imagined. In my 
boat was the third mate, carpenter, Mr. Sanborn, two 
sailors named John Hannah and Henry Jackson, and my- 
self. In the next boat, with Mr. Levy in command and 
Mr. Anderson who wanted to command, was Mr. Buncom, 
the Ape, a sailor named Jacob Morrisey, and the Esquimau. 
In the long-boat were two sailors named John Wilcox and 
Frederick Westman, who were rigging a sail ; Jack and 
Lib were also with them. This boat was towed by Mr. 
Levy, who was to take it along till the sail was set. We 
groped our way amid the ice for awhile and got in open 
water. In the dim distance we saw the iceberg that 
wrecked us, plowing its way along. We turned our frail 
crafts south, homeward. We were homeward-bound. The 
sea ran high, and we shipped considerable water, wetting 
us to the skin. Mr. Sanborn bailed incessantly for two 
hours and became exhausted. The carpenter spelled him, 
and gave out ere long. Mr. Jackson took a shift at it, 
and after thirty minutes called for a relief. Mr. Hannah 
relieved him and worked the same length of time. Then 
Mr. Harry took the bucket. Jack and Lib, by the way, 
were changed to my boat at the request of Mr. Westman. 
Jack relieved Mr. Harry. He filled the bucket ; on lifting 
it found it to be heavy and turned its contents back into 
the boat, exclaiming, “ Heap heavy.” 

“ Jack, you must either work or get out of this,” said I 
harshly, for I was vexed at his indolence. 

“ Me get out,” replied he, rising to plunge overboard, 
and I told him to sit down. He was true Indian, and no 
more thought of working than he had an idea as to where 


62 Captain Kiddle. 

we were. Mr. Sanborn restricted his next shift to one 
hour’s time, and after it was over, Lib began, and on work- 
ing eight minutes sank down exhausted. Then I took up 
the bucket, and in attempting to empty it almost fell over- 
board. I concluded if I filled the position of commander- 
in-chief, that I did my whole duty. Lib began to succumb 
to the cold and wet. On taking the instruments from my 
bear-skin, which I turned hair side in, I bade him crawl 
into it, which lie did with alacrity. Jack espying Lib’s 
comfortable quarters, crawled in also, but much against the 
occupant’s wishes. Ten minutes after Lib had crawled in I 
looked through the mouth hole, and saw that he was fast 
asleep. After six hours’ repose I woke him up, and he came 
out thoroughly refreshed. He worked with good will, bail- 
ing for one hour. The sea was not running so high and 
we shipped far less water. I bade Jack to come out; he 
obeyed with reluctance. Then I crawled in, and was soon 
sound asleep. While asleep, Mr. Jackson wrote on the 
skin as follows : 

“ Lodging House. 

“ Patrons required to sleep two or more in a bed, or no ad- 
mittance.” 

I never slept a sounder, or more refreshing sleep in my 
life. Once more I congratulated myself on my remarkable 
shot. When I woke up, w^e had the long-boat in tow, as 
the sail did not work well; however, it was not much of an 
incumbrance. Jack was so much in the way, that I trans- 
ferred him back to the long-boat. For a while it proved a 
sort of heaven to him, for all he did was eat and sleep. 
From Mr. Levy’s boat, at our starboard, came tumultuous 
sounds. Mr. Anderson thought he ought to have command 
for the time, and contested for the coveted position by en- 
gaging in combat, and he came out victorious. • I settled 
the matter amicably, by giving him command of the long- 
boat. The Ape declared it an outrage to make him work, 
and at length, he absolutely refused to pull an oar. Mr. 
Levy referred the matter to me, and for reply, I resorted to 
Billingsgate saying, it is root, hog, or die. That is, if he 
would not work he should not eat. On missing two meals 
he announced a willingness to work. 


Starvation. 


03 


Our progress was slow and most laborious telling 
fearfully on the men. The carpenter and Mr. Jackson were 
both fagged out, and occupied the Lodging-house. After 
forty-eight hours the wind changed, blowing from out the, 
south-east. We were compelled to turn about, and in the 
same laborious way, make back again. Twelve hours after 
turning back we beheld the iceberg returning also, back- 
ing up with as much ease as a railway locomotive. It came 
on right in our course and with the greatest difficulty we 
managed to get out of its way. The old monster seemed 
to frown down on us as if angry at our escape. Away it 
sped to the norths west, crushing everything before it. 
Ten hours after the iceberg passed us I took an observation 
placing us in latitude N. 78° 24', 2". longitude W. 72° 
10', 9" just where the wreck occurred. After a brief con- 
sultation, we decided to land upon a floe, a league or two 
at our left, and there pass the remainder of the winter. On 
landing, we found that the floe covered the extent of about 
five acres, solid, not at all liable to go to pieces iu rough 
seas. We began immediately to build a house of ice, after 
Mr. Anderson’s architecture, as he had had some experience 
in this sort of house building. 

The structure was round, twenty feet at the base^ cone- 
shaped, coming to a point at the height of fifteen feet. The 
door at the base, two feet in diameter, was in the south side. 
Every time I made an ingress it made me feel as if I was a 
burglar, crawling through a window. Upon the floe, we 
found two barrels, of our oil, cast thence by the waves, which 
proved invaluable ior cooking, heating, and illuminating pur- 
poses. Our cooking and heating stove, and lamp combined,, 
was a contrivance of my own invention. It consisted of a 
large sheet-iron bucket, the one we bailed the boat with, 
placed in the ice-floor, so that the brim was just level with the 
surface, and filled with oil. In the oil in an upright position, 
were two of the shortest Winchester rifle barrels, twenty four 
inches, filled with wicking, made from the ravelings of sail- 
cloth. When lighted they gave a candescent, brilliant light. 
On the right on the entrance was our sleeping, smoking, and 
entertaining apartment, though in the last capacity it was 
never used. On the other hand was our cooking and din- 
ing apartment. I slept with feet close to the fire as circum- 
stances would admit, and they Were always warm. It was 


€4 Captain Kiddle. 

the first time I can remember of having warm feet in cold 
weather. At my right slept Mr. Buneom, to whom I cud- 
dled closely, getting in the hollow between his shoulders. 
Once I asked if my presence in this attitude molested him, 
to which he replied, I was so small and light, that I tick- 
eled, and made him itch like a vermin biting. This made 
me wroth. The good old soul never once thought of wound- 
ing my pride. At my left, with his tobacco-tainted breath 
forever polluting the air, lay Mr. Anderson, who blasphemed 
•even in his sleep. Behind Mr. Anderson, was Mr. Levy, 
who, instead of blaspheming, talked about money. Behind 
the Jew, was Mr. Sanborn, with the peculiar smell about 
him characteristic to his race, making him an extremely ob- 
noxious bed-fellow. Behind Mr. Sanborn was Jack, with 
the smell of his race which, combined with Mr. Sanborn’s, 
made 44 allee samee big smellee,” as Lib termed it. Next to 
Jack was Lib, and lastly the carpenter, who was much 
affronted for not being admitted to the apartment of the 
whites. The sailors reposed by themselves just in front of 
Mr. Buncom. The Ape, too good, in his own estimation, to 
bed with any of us, though I wanted to place him between 
Mr. Sanborn and Jack, had a bed to himself in the cooking 
and dining apartment, opposite me, and like myself, slept 
with his feet to the fire. Why he was so persistent in occupy- 
ing this particular place, at first I could not imagine, but 
erstwhile it became obvious. He did it to have complete 
access to the provisions piled at his head and covered with 
sail-cloth. Watching an opportunity, while we were asleep, 
he, like a midnight sneak-thief, robbing a laborer of his 
thanksgiving turkey, stole provisions and secreted them in 
a fissure in the floe, about ten rods back of the house, 
covering them with snow. To commence with, our supplies 
would not begin to last till spring, using them sparingly as 
possible. We wasted not a single crumb; we boiled the 
coffee and tea over and over again, till hardly coloring the 
water, then the dregs and leaves were mixed together, a 
little flour added and made into a loaf. With this nefari- 
ous Ape stealing before our eyes, I was soon compelled to 
place all hands, myself included, on short rations, which 
barely induced the soul to put up with the miseries of the 
body. We hoped to kill a bear, but not one came near, and 
seals had left, too. Hunger was stamped upon every coun- 


Starvation . 


65 


tenance except the Ape’s, which continued to grow fuller, 
and broader. On eating his rations, he would slip out and 
eat as much as he wanted from the stolen supplies. He 
laughed in our faces and told us why we looked so thin 
and miserable was that the wrath of the Lord was upon us 
because we were not Lutherans. I compelled him to move 
his bed oyer behind the carpenter. Mr. Anderson, acting 
as watchman, occupied his previous quarters. The Ape in 
his new quarters, close against the wall, found much fault, 
and passed a great deal of time by the fire, waiting an 
opportunity to steal. However, Mr. Anderson was ever on 
the alert. The Ape, an adroit thief, was not easily caught. 
At last we resorted to a little stratagem. At a given signal 
Mr. Anderson feigned sleep and we all did likewise. How 
he snored and blasphemed ! W e did the same, omitting blas- 
phemy. The Ape approached the provisions cautiously,, 
took therefrom a ham, and filled every pocket of a great 
overcoat he had on with hardtack. On gazing cautiously 
around to make sure we were sound asleep, he took a step 
forward. Mr. Anderson grasped hold of his ankle, and 
shouted, “Stop, you miserable thief! ” 

“What does this mean ?” inquired the Ape, feigning 
surprise. “ You insult me. A thief ! do you mean to call 
me? I am Prince Jesse Henry German, the only t Chris- 
tian of this barbaric crew.” 

“You are a thief. Drop that ham and take the hard- 
tack from your pockets.” 

“ What ham ? what hardtack ? ” 

For reply Mr. Anderson struck him in the face, knock- 
ing him prostrate. The ham that he had concealed beneath 
his coat dropped upon the floor, rolled over against the stove, 
and extinguished the flame. As he rose to his feet, said I, 
“ Dutch, you are running a terrible risk ; risking your life, 
and mark my admonition, if you ever do such a thing 
ao-ain you will be court-martialed, and if found guilty, 
shot.” 

Replied he, after several moments’ sulkily meditating, 
“ I was doing this for your own good. Thought I heard a 
bear outside ; intended to feed it, making it tame, so that 
you could make another remarkable shot.” 

Did he really mean I was a good shot, or was he making 
fun of me ? The sneering tone in which he spoke induced. 


66 Captain Kiddle . 

me to conclude it was ridicule. He took the hardtack 
from his pockets and sat beside the fire, sulking to himself. 
As punishment I kept one day’s rations from him. Little 
cared he for the slight chastisement, as he ate his fill from 
what he had stolen. I noticed that Mr. Levy, instead of 
eating his rations, placed them away in a hole he had cut 
in the floor, at the head of where he slept, covering them 
with some duds. He was fasting, and what induced him 
to do so? Was he of the same opinion as Dr. Tanner, that 
a person can exist forty days without eating, and was ex- 
perimenting on himself ? I think he could have outfasted 
the Doctor. I tried to get him to explain his mysterious 
conduct. His reply was for me to wait and I should see 
for myself. On account of his being a Jew, I concluded 
the mystery was based upon some financial scheme, and 
my hypothesis proved correct. The weather, heretofore 
cold, was now simply terrific — sixty-five degrees below zero 
indoors, and what it was without, I have not the faintest 
idea. In our famishing condition, though wrapped in furs 
and blankets, we could hardly heep from freezing. Being 
so many of us, we could not all gather round the fire at 
once. We arranged ourselves in two circles, the inner one 
occupying the fire, and at the end of every fifteen minutes 
it fell back. Having a few candles left that the Esqui 
mau who could excel a Russian at eating candles, did not 
happen to devour, I ordered the outer circle to light one 
to the man, thinking it would add a little to his comfort. 
Soon as a candle was lit it burned only around the wick, 
burning a hole about the size of the bore of my revolvers, 
fifty-four calibre. When the wick had burned out each 
candle bad a hole through the centre rounded smooth as a 
smooth-bore rifle. The flame was not strong enough to 
overcome the cold, which froze the wax. This may seem 
preposterous, but nevertheless it is true, and all those pres- 
ent, were they alive, would verify my statement. When 
the thermometer registered the lowest degtee, the cold had 
a strange effect upon us, preventing us from speaking. 
Mr. Anderson, sitting in the outer circle, attempted to 
speak. As I saw his lips move, he strangled, and belched 
forth a fragment of ice which fell beside the fire. When 
it began to melt, a voice came from it, saying, 44 Buncom, 
give me a chew of tobacco.” 


Starvation. 


67 


Mr. Buncom, as well as myself, was startled at the 
strange phenomenon, took a piece of the solicited weed from 
his pocket, turned round and gave it to Mr. Anderson. 
Mr. Buncom attempted to speak, and with a whoop, as if 
having the whooping-cough, a piece of ice came from his 
mouth. Curious to know what his reply was, I picked up 
the fragment and placed it before the fire. A voice from 
it said, 44 Help yourself.” 

The Ape tried to say something, but the result was the 
same. The ice that came from his mouth fell pretty close 
to the fire. I moved it up closer with my foot, and a voice, 
which we all recognized as the Ape’s, came from it, saying, 
44 I will kill the entire crew. I shall make them pay dearly 
for calling me a thief.” 

The Ape, on hearing his own words he uttered in solilo- 
quy, looked frightened. Here was a complete phonograph 
in every respect. A voice could be kept for hours, and, in 
fact, so long as the ice did not melt. The only way we 
managed to .talk at all was to hold our faces close over the 
fire. This strange phenomena lasted for twenty four hours. 
For a while after this the weather was mild for an Arctic 
winter. Two weeks after the cold snap our provisions be- 
came exhausted* and oil nearly so. What were we to 
do? Sit and watch each other expire of starvation? I 
begged of the Ape, if he had any provisions concealed, to 
get them and I would forgive the past. He declared he 
had not filched any. I was positive he had made a locative 
assertion. Mr. Anderson, so reduced by starvation as 
to hardly be able to stand alone, staggered to his feet, 
but leaned upon Mr. Buncom's shoulder and said, 44 Gentle- 
men, we have reached a crisis demanding something des* 
perate. If we are to die, let us cast lots, to see who among 
us shall slay us all and then himself. If we are to survive, 
let us also cast lots to see who will die, that the remainder 
may live.” 

46 Mr. Anderson,” said I, 44 the terms you propose, as I 
understand them, are murder or cannibalism.” 

44 That is just what I mean,” replied he, gazing at me 
with a wolfish glare in his eyes. 

44 May heaven forbid such measures,” said I, shuddering. 

44 Gentlemen, wait twelve hours,” said Mr. Levy, trying 
to stagger to his feet, but was too weak to do so on account 


68 


Captain Kiddle . 

of starvation, “ and I will settle the question myself with 
something to eat, providing the terms 1 make are satis- 
factory.” 

We thought him insane from hunger and agreed to wait. 
On lying down I fell into a troubled slumber, and thought 
myself at home with my parents. Mother, young and 
beautiful as in the photograph over which father used to 
weep, came into the dining-room with a large delicious 
turkey, and laid it upon the table for father to carve. 
Said she, “ Give John a good piece from the breast, the 
poor boy has almost been starved to death.” 

Holding forth my plate, father placed a leg and greater 
portion of the breast upon it. How I ate ! Soon I was in 
misery, and father continued to heap my plate with almost 
everything good to eat. My misery increased as I con- 
tinued eating. Suddenly my fullness of stomach vanished 
and I became hungry, but could not eat, as my mouth 
would not open. I woke up, and Mr. Levy sat by the fire 
with a bundle beside him. 

Said he : “ Gentlemen, I am Solomon Levy, the honest 
Jew, I am about to open a grocery store. My goods are 
first class, will sell cheap ; terms, cash.” 

He opened the bundle and began displaying his stock, 
almost the entire amount of his rations. The sight made 
our mouths water and we leaped forth with joy. Mr. 
Sanborn, on giving two or three fantastic steps, exclaimed, 
“ Bress God yesda}^ an’ de day befor’.” 

“Mr. Levy,” said I, “what do you want for your entire 
stock? ” 

“ One hundred dollars per pound.” 

“ All right. How much does it weigh? ” 

I searched my effects and found a pair of steelyards. 
Mr. Buncom was the only one among ns strong enough to 
hold the steelyards while I did the weighing. 

“ Thirty pounds ; and at one hundred dollars per pound 
is three thousand dollars.” 

I paid him in gold and silver, principally silver. He 
knelt before the glittering heap of coin, and I thought, 
prayed to it. I dealt out rations to all, except Mr. Levy, 
who said : “ Captain, you have overlooked me.” 

“ I have not. Do you suppose after buying these goods 
of you, that I should turn round and give you a portion 


Starvation. 


69 


back again ? From his pocket he took a piece of paper in 
which was a soda cracker with a thin slice of bacon on it. 
He marked it off in squares like a checker board, each 
square a day’s rations. He cut out a square with his pocket 
knife and seeing he had cut into the next square, ate nothing 
the following day. The provisions imbued us with new life, 
and we thanked the Jew heartily for his avariciousness 
which saved our lives. The provisions came unexpectedly, 
like some heavenly benediction, when conscious of having 
gone contrary, losing altogether the path of rectitude. 


70 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER VIII. 

DUTCH COURT-MARTIALED, EXILED, AND SHOT. 

On the energy the new supplies gave us, we looked for- 
ward with hopes of surviving our starving period. Mr. 
Buncom and Anderson went out in quest of bear, and 
discovered bear tracks upon a floe at our left which had 
joined ours during the recent cold snap. The bear itself 
could not have lifted our hopes but one degree higher. 
We were positive it would be ours if Mr. Anderson got 
within range of it, for he was a dead shot and I a remark- 
able shot. Mr. Sanborn also went out and wounded a 
seal. Jack, the most fortunate of all, came in with a fish 
weighing about twenty pounds, which he found between 
two fragments of ice that had killed it. Instead of dealing 
the fish out as part of our scanty rations I ordered it cooked. 
What a banquet it gave us. I say banquet for that is what 
the repast seemed like. Even Belshazzar in his last 
drunken revelry in his princely palace, surrounded by all 
that was beautiful and costly, could not have been happier, 
if happy he was, than we, as we sat eating the fish, a single 
cracker apiece, and a little weak coffee to wash it down. 
We all turned out on a grand fishing excursion, except 
Mr. Buncom and Anderson, who were sure of getting a 
bear. The Ape did not go far before discovering a clear, 
shallow pool (few hours previous the sea had ran high and 
broke over the floe in this particular place), in which 
swam a fish larger than the one Jack brought in. Instead 
of trying to catch it, the Ape stood gazing in the water, 
which mirrored his features almost perfectly as a looking 
glass. There he stood, grinning and talking to himself. 
What cared he for the fish ? He had plenty of something 
better to eat hid away somewhere. He left for home as 
Mr. Levy came up. On seeing the fish Mr. Levy plunged 
in the water, and after a long struggle captured his prey. 
He came forth wet from head to foot. Hastening my pace 


Dutch Court-Martialed , Exiled , and Shot. 71 

I overtook him and relieved him of his burden. I told him 
to put on my seal-skin suit, if possible, and wear it till his 
dried. He could not find it, and then I searched but met 
with no better results. The Ape pretended to search and 
insinuated there must be a thief about. I mistrusted 
where it had gone, but having no positive proof, could make 
no charge against the culprit. 

“ Quick ! a rope ! ” shouted Mr. Wilcox with his head 
through the doorway. “ The bear has Mr. Anderson or 
he has the bear.” I ordered him to the long-boat that lay 
against the east side the house, where he would find a ten- 
fathom coil of rope. He did so, caught up the coil, and ran 
as I never saw him run before. He went toward a high 
mass of broken ice about one hundred rods westerly from 
the house. On telling Mr. Levy to remain indoors to 
watch Dutch, I departed for the scene of excitement. 
Before among them, Mr. Levy overtook me and passed by 
me. I saw the men, some standing, and others lying flat 
on the stomach looking down into a crevice. From 
beneath I heard a voice cursing the men for being so slow. 
By the tone of the language I knew it was Mr. Anderson, 
I prostrated myself upon the brink and looked down. Some 
fifty odd feet directly beneath me I beheld Mr. Anderson. 
He was immersed up to the shoulders, with a fragment of 
ice upon the left arm which kept him from sinking. He 
called for help, his tones were feeble as the water was 
benumbing him. Presently his head dropped upon his 
breast attesting unconsciousness. 

“ Who will go down and rescue him ? ” inquired I. 

A brief silence ensued, which Mr. Levy broke by saying : 
“ How much would you be willing to give?” 

“ The natural regard for your fellow-being should be an 
ample reward.” 

u No man living has greater respect for his fellow-man 
than myself, but I find there is no money in it.” 

Then Mr. Sanborn took off his coat and hat and said : 
“ Massa, I’s gwin’.” 

He took an end of the rope and sat upon the brink. Mr. 
Buncom, flat on the stomach, let out the rope steadily as if 
unwinding from the reel of a hoisting engine. Behind Mr. 
Buncom was Mr. Levy holding to his heels and to his 
heels held Mr. Wilcox. Thus we lay stretched out holding 


72 


Captain Kiddle . 

to each other’s heels. The rope slackened when within a 
few feet of the end, telling that the bottom w*as reached. 

In a few moments rang Mr. Sanborn’s deep voice, say- 
ing, “ Ho, up dar.” 

Mr. Buncom began pulling up the rope, and I felt the 
human string give. Lib’s feet, to which I held, almost 
slipped from my grasp. I was holding on with all my 
might with botli hands, and also with my toes which were 
caught in a small seam in the ice. Looking down the 
string, I saw Mr. Anderson’s head coming above the brink, 
and the next moment he was landed in safety. He was 
still unconscious, and Mr. Levy laid him upon Mr. San- 
born’s coat. After taking a breath or two Mr. Buncom 
began pulling up Mr. Sanborn. When half way up, I saw 
the string part, and a shout of despair rent the air. Mr. 
Buncom, Levy, and Wilcox with the exception of his 
legs below the knee, went over the brink. Jack had 
relinquished his hold because he was “ heap tired,” as he 
afterwards told me when I investigated the matter. See- 
ing a crack in front of Mr. Morrisey’s shoulder, I thrust 
Mr. Anderson’s gun in it half the length the barrel, and 
told Mr. Morrisey to put his shoulder against it and pull. 
He did so. Slowly the men came up over the brink. Mr. 
Buncom was terribly red in the face, the blood having 
rushed to his head. I sent four men home with Mr. An- 
derson. The remainder were to rescue Mr. Sanborn, dead 
or alive, I did not know which. I looked down and saw 
him lying upon the right side, holding to one of his shins, 
bare and bleeding a little. By the expression of his face 
I saw it caused him intense pain. Just back from where 
he lay was a round hole in the ice, somewhat larger than 
his head, smooth as if a hot cannon ball had been dropped 
there. It was where his head struck as he fell head down- 
ward. This was positive proof of the marvellous assertions 
I had often heard concerning the thickness of a negroe^s 
skull. I actually believe if it was possible for him to have 
been fired from some powerful cannon that his head 
would penetrate the thickest armor plate in use. Marvel- 
lously strong in the skull, he was wonderfully weak in the 
shins. Where one race is superior over another in certain 
parts the body, other parts are as much inferior. After Mr. 
Sanborn’s shin ceased paining intensely, we rescued him. 


Dutch Court-Martialed , Exiled , and Shot . 73 

I asked Mr. Buncom how it was that Mr. Anderson got in 
such a perilous situation. He stated that Mr. Anderson 
was after a bear, and on trying to get within shorter range, 
by crawling round a projecting mass of ice, fell into the 
crevice, covered over with snow. When he fell, the point 
round which he was crawling came after him, and how he 
escaped death is almost miraculous. When we got home 
I opened my medicine chest for a flask of brandy to give 
Mr. Anderson a draught, and found that the flask and a 
hand-mirror were missing. The Ape had picked the lock. 
I went to deal out our daily rations, and lo ! they were all 
gone, the fish included, except the head and entrails. The 
Ape had made a clean sweep like an absconding bank 
cashier. It was now high time that I began proceedings 
against the thief. On going behind the house I beheld 
the Ape looking in my hand-mirror, and consuming our 
rations.- In one mouthful he gulped down the rations of 
two men 

Said I, '“Dutch, you are wanted inside.” 

“ What have I done ? ” 

“ I cannot say yet, it will have to be proven first.” 

“ Then, I suppose your are going to comdemn me as 
a thief. If that Mexican, Nigger, Indian, Chinaman or 
Esquimau, your pets, stole anything you would consider 
it smart.” 

“ You may now consider yourself under arrest.” 

“ Never ! ” replied he, raising his arm to strike a blow. I 
called out Mr. Buncom and Levy. After a short scuffle, 
thej r overpowerd him, binding him hand and foot. How- 
ever, I ordered that he should be bound with hands behind 
him. In this condition he was brought in. I was to act 
as judge, Mr. Buncom prosecuting attorney, and Mr. Levy 
to appear in behalf of the accused. The jury consisted of the 
sailors and third mate. The prisoner was searched, and on 
his person was found the flask of brandy — rather the flask, 
in which remained not more then a spoonful of brandy — 
and my mirror. A small portion of the provisions were also 
found. This was sufficient evidence. The culprit pleaded 
not guilty, though he could not account for the articles being 
found in his possession. He named Lib as the guilty party, 
hoping this false accusation would prove a loop-hole 
through which he might escape. I looked at Lib and saw 


74 Captain Kiddle. 

him turn a shade or two browner. His teeth rattled 
together and his feet nearly shook off their slippers, such 
as the Chinese wear. The poor innocent Mongolian could 
not have been more frightened had he seen the devil a& 
represented by his race. He tried to speak but could not. 

“ Lib come here,” said I. 

He took a step forward and fell upon his face. Dutch, 
seeing his condition, laughed and exclaimed, “Now, will 
you believe me? The heathen is so guilty that he cannot 
stand beneath his burden.” 

I nodded to the jury to ascertain if it had agreed upon a 
verdict ; it rose and exclaimed, “ Guilty.” 

“ It is a lie ! ” shouted Dutch, who began trembling- 
almost as violently as Lib a few minutes before. 

“ Dutch,” said I, addressing him with tears in my eyes, 
“ You have been found guilty of stealing the last morsel 
from a poor, famishing, shipwrecked crew, of which you are 
a member. Instead of trying to bear your portion of the 
miseries like a man, you have at all times heaped them 
upon your comrades, and besides robbing them of ” 

“ It is a lie ! ” interrupted he. 

“We have been forbearing, warning you, but you would 
not listen. You possess that littleness of soul I have never 
seen equalled, even among savages. Now, therefore, I 
sentence you to be shot within three hours.” 

“ Oh, murder,” cried he, bawling at the top of his voice. 

Mr. Buncom rose with tears, the first and last I ever 
saw him shed, coursing down his weather-tanned cheeks, 
and said, “ Captain, knowing your profound knowledge 
of legal lore, appreciating your impartial services in hold- 
ing up the scales of justice in sight of all men, could you 
not, by my fervent supplications, commute the sentence, 
banishing the culprit forever from our midst ? ” 

“If agreeable to the crew I will comply with your 
request.” Turning toward the men, on the majority of 
whose countenances rested a frown, unfavorably disposed 
towards Mr. Buncom’s prayer, I said, “Men, you have 
heard the prayer of Mr. Buncom, and to it what do you 
say?” 

“ Shoot the culprit,” shouted some ; “ Banish the thief,”' 
shouted others. 

“We must decide this by ballot.” 


Dutch Court-Martialed , Exiled, and Shot . 75 

I cut up a piece of cardboard into bits of about an inch 
square. On a portion of them I wrote “ Shoot the cul- 
prit,” and on the remainder “ Banish the thief.” 

The tickets were placed in an empty sardine-can. Mr. 
Sanborn’s hat was the ballot-box. The votes were polled, 
and on counting stood one in favor of banishment. To me 
this was a great relief. It seemed the most humane way of 
getting rid of the culprit. It looked like premeditated 
murder in my eyes, to take him out and shoot him ; 
whereas banishment was a portion of the first punish- 
ment the Creator inflicted upon mankind. 

Said I to Dutch, on hearing the result of the polls, 
“ With our curse upon your mophead, like the Creator’s 
mark on the brow of Cain, I sentence you to eternal 
banishment from our presence. If you choose to go by 
boat, take mine, drag it to open water and embark ; and if 
by ice, at once begone ! ” 

“Do you mean to turn me out of house and home in 
weather like this?” inquired Dutch, who now looked upon 
the matter as a farce. 

“ Begone at once. But how do you intend to go? ” 

“ By boat,” replied he, grinning and stroking his beard. 
“I demand four of your best men to man the boat, a 
Winchester rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition. 
I can make out for provisions till we chance to shoot 
game.” 

“I will give you a Winchester, one hundred cartridges* 
and that is all.” 

“ I want one more article, and without it I would be 
most miserable.” 

“What’s that?” 

“Your hand-mirror. Just the sight of my beautiful 
face dispels from my mind all gloom, like the sun at home 
scattering the morning mists.” 

I gave him the mirror, and he stopped to admire him- 
self. 

“ Men, help this rascal on his exile.” 

Mr. Buncom grasped him by the shoulder, led him to 
the door, through which the exile crawled, and then his 
escort. Mr. Buncom, led him down the floe quite a 
distance, and without shaking hands or bidding him good- 
bye, turned round and came back. Looking through the 


76 Captain Kiddle . 

doorway, I beheld the exile slowly plodding along with 
rifle in one hand and the other to his face, for he was 
weeping. 

“ Captain, I fear you did wrong in giving him that 
rifle,” said Mr. Buncom, on returning. 

“ How so ? ” 

“He has murder in his heart. He is liable to return 
and murder us all when asleep.” 

“No danger of that. I could not turn him away 
without any means of defence against bears. He will 
succumb to 'the cold before many hours.” 

As I have said, Dutch stole all our provisions, and we 
liad to rustle for something to eat. Mr. Levy went to the 
pool, whence he obtained the fish, and returned with 
another one somewhat smaller. Several of us began 
searching for the stolen provisions, and after many weary 
hours they were discovered by Mr. Harry, buried under 
three feet of snow, in a crevice back of the house. We 
began uncovering them, and to our delight beheld half the 
amount on hand when landing upon the floe. On replacing 
them in the house we had another banquet. When it was 
finished each merrymaker took a sound repose on a full 
stomach, something we had not enjoyed for the past two 
months. The exile returned, and finding the provisions re- 
moved enraged him. Stealthily entering the house while 
we were asleep, he pointed his Winchester at my head. 
Just as he was in the act of sending a bullet crashing 
through my skull, Mr. Anderson, awakened by the click 
of the lock, sprung to his feet, grasped the muzzle of the 
rifle, and received the bullet through the left hand, tearing 
the big finger out by the roots. Before the would-be- 
assassin could, discharge his weapon again, Mr. Levy had 
wrenched it from his grasp. In another minute two rifles, 
my revolvers, an harpoon, hatchet, four cutlasses and a 
spear were in readiness to destroy him. 

“ Dutch, what does this mean ? ” inquired I. 

“ It was an accident. I came in to tell you there are 
four bears not very far down the floe. At first I thought 
I would shoot them, and then thinking of your love of this 
sort of sport concluded to call you. I left my gun cocked 
and it went off accidentally. Undoubtedly it would have 
killed you had not this white-livered Scandinavian got be- 


Dutch Court-Martialed , Exiled* and Shot. 77 

fore it and received the bullet himself. I am not at all 
sorry for him, but would be had you been harmed.” 

“A very plausible story. Men, seize the villain and 
bind him hand and foot.” 

My orders were executed. How I wished he had 
stayed away, but he came back to meet the death pre- 
destined him the moment he first drew breath and became 
a living soul. 

“ Dutch,” inquired 1, “ how came those provisions in 
that crevice ?” 

“ I have not the faintest idea.” 

Had he returned without premeditated murder in his 
heart, I would have suffered him to tarry among us after 
punishing him for the thefts. To prevent him from further 
stealing, I .would have chained him to the wall. My first 
mandate — death by shooting — would be executed. For 
executioners I chose Mr. Buncom, Levy, Sanborn, the car- 
penter, Jack and Lib. Mr. Sanborn offered Mr. Anderson 
his seal-skin suit if he would act in his stead. Mr. Ander- 
son feigned reluctance, though he actually thirsted for 
Dutch’s blood, but consented, providing I would permit 
him to use a revolver, on account of his disabled hand. I 
granted the favor. I ordered Mr. Wilcox to fix a rifle 
barrel forming part of the stove, upon its stock, place a 
blank cartridge in it, and also in another Winchester. 
When the weapons were prepared for their deadly mission, 
I opened my watch, held it before Dutch’s eyes, and said : 
“ You see the time ? ” 

“ Yes, and what of it?” 

“You have one hour to prepare to meet your Maker.” 

“ One hour ! ” shouted he. “ I am innocent, and am 
condemned to die like a bandit because my rifle went off 
accidentally and injured Anderson, and also because there 
is a thief in our midst. Ah ! but I can die the death of a 
Christian. Captain (addressing me), untie my hands. I 
want to behold my beautiful countenance once more.” 

“ I will hold the glass for you ; where is it ? ” 

“In this pocket,” nodding to the right. 

I placed my hand in the inside pocket of his coat and 
took out the mirror, which was wrapped in a clean linen 
handkerchief. My hand trembled so that I could not hold 
it, and I laid it down on the floor. In an incumbent atti- 


T8 


Captain Kiddle. 

tude lie gazed in the glass, and then said : “ Alas ! Prince 
Jesse Henry German, I behold thee in the full vigor of 
manhood, with youthful beauty yet aglow on thy cheek, 
like the blush of a damask rose. Alas ! thou art soon to 
be cut off by an infatuated, mob that denounce thee as a 
thief, a would-be assassin. No more, oh, never more, wilt 
thy feet tread those paths hallowed by the innocence of 
youth. No more, oh, never more, wilt thou again behold 
thy dear parents who call thee their joy, their pride, 
and their prop in old age. No more, oh never more, 
Betsy, wilt I come to gladden thy long days of watching 
and waiting my return. Never more, Betsy, wilt thy eyes 
grow brighter as I sit beside thee calling thee my darling, 
my bride.” 

Turning toward me, he continued, u Captain John Dig- 
ger Kiddle, true as God reigns in heaven, I will call on 
Him to avenge my ignominious death. Your bones and 
those of the entire crew will, like mine, lie in a sextonless 
dug grave at the bottom of this freezing sea, but your 
spirit, unlike mine, shall endure the worst agonies of 
eternal torment for murdering me because it was in your 
power to do so.” 

At his request I replaced the mirror in his pocket. Tne 
executioners stepped out and fell in line. At the right 
stood Mr. Anderson, pale from the loss of blood, with his 
wounded hand in a sling, and in the other he held one of 
my revolvers. Next stood Mr. Buncom, much excited, 
and so nervous as to be hardly able to hold his rifle. Next 
to him was the carpenter, -whose countenance wore an in- 
different expression. Next stood Jack, elated with that 
love of human slaughter for which his kindred are note- 
worthy. Next was Mr. Levy, frowning because there was 
no money in the deed. Lastly was Lib, so unstrung that 
his rifle fell at his feet, and he was unable to stoop and 
pick it up. Dutch was led, or rather carried forward, to 
the place of execution, and placed in a kneeling posture, 
by his request, thirty yards in front of the executioners. His 
eyes were covered with the crown of a black felt hat, drawn 
down over his face. He remained silent a few moments, 
and then gave way to lamentation, lying flat upon his face. 
The ensuing fifteen minutes were the most miserable I 
ever experienced. Six men armed with deadly weapons. 


Dutch Court-Martialed, Exiled, and Shot. 79 

minus the two containing blank cartridge, to end the life 
of a felon. I know we all felt as the executioner must 
feel as he beholds his victim bound hand and foot, arm 
and leg, standing upon the deadly trap, which he springs 
and launches the victim into eternity. The warrior who 
slays in fair fight must feel exalted at his superior prowess 
over his adversary. When within two minutes of the time, 
I called to Dutch and he rose upon his knees. 

“ Make ready,” said I. 

Dutch got upon his feet, which were unbound when led 
forth. 

“ Aim.” 

Dutch started upon a run, uttering fearful shrieks. 

“ Fire ! ” 

An irregular discharge of arms rang upon the air. I 
saw Dutch fall heavily forward, his head moved to the 
right and all was over. Upon examination I found that only 
one shot had struck him, which broke his neck ; death was 
instantaneous and painless. I am positive that Mr. Ander- 
son fired the fatal shot, and he was always of the same 
opinion. Mr. Buncom held his rifle so high that he would 
have missed the top of the Boreas’ mainmast. Mr. Levy 
came nearer the house than anything else. The carpenter 
struck the ice a little to the right. Jack, having a blank 
cartridge, aimed well. Lib managed to pick up his rifle 
after the victim fell, and had it not contained a blank 
cartridge, Dutch’s prophecy concerning my bones would 
have at once been fulfilled. He discharged the weapon 
directly at my head, burning the beard from the right side 
of my face. We buried the remains in the crevice that the 
provisions were secreted in. 

It was a dreadful act to do, but such punishment comes- 
not upon those who commit no crime. Had anybody else 
committed the like offence, the result would have been pre- 
cisely the same. Did I do right or wrong? Under the 
circumstances, I conscientiously think that I did what my 
duty demanded. If I have to atone for the deed in the 
hereafter, it will be because my judgment erred. 


•80 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER IX. 

SUCCESSFUL BEAK-HUNT. 

The interment of Dutch’s remains was not done to my 
satisfaction — only snow had been heaped upon them. 
Upon the snow I intended to place a quantity of finely 
broken ice, pour water over it, and on freezing it would 
become a solid mass, preventing bears from disinterring 
them. I sent four sailors to do the work, and they came 
back, reporting the body gone. 

. “ A case of body-snatching,” said I, “ and as there are 
no medical students about, I fasten the offence upon 
bears.” 

We searched for their tracks, but found none; winds 
blowing the snow had obliterated their footprints. I saw 
something white fluttering in the gale, and on reaching it 
found it to be the deceased’s handkerchief wrapped around 
the mirror. I was superstitiously afraid and dared not 
look in the glass, fearing I might see the deceased’s 
countenance. I replaced the handkerchief around it, 
put it in my pocket, and afterwards gave it to Mr. Sanborn, 
who used it when shaving till he imagined he saw the 
countenance that I was afraid of seeing. He gave it to 
Mr. Anderson, who averred he was not afraid of all the 
faces it could reflect, even that of his Satanic Majesty. 
Nor do I think he would have been, for he was as fearless as 
reckless. Finding the mirror fully convinced me that bears 
had carried away the remains. 

“Men,” said I, “shall we go on a bear-hunt? First, to 
punish them for body-snatching, and second, the most 
noteworthy cause, to provide ourselves with means of 
sustenance.” 

“ Agreed ! ” they all exclaimed, with the exception of 
Mr. Anderson, who said, “Wait a few days till my hand 
mends a little.” 

We agreed to postpone the affair for five days. How- 
ever, we prolonged it after the tenth day on account of a 


Successful Bear-Hunt. 


81 


terrific southerly gale, which broke the floe in two along 
the crevice in which Dutch’s remains were interred. I 
had things put in shape for taking to water, as I was 
afraid the floe would break up entirely. It was a mystery 
how our house ever weathered it, as the floe tossed and 
tumbled about like a toy in the hand of a Titan enraged to 
the height of anger. After the gale subsided, Mr. Levy went 
down the floe a short distance, and returned, saying the ice 
was covered with fish. We went to the scene of interest, 
and what a pleasing sight met our eyes, Upon the ice, 
cast thence by the waves, frozen stiff, lay fish three and 
four feet deep, from the length of my rifle barrel, three 
and a half feet, down to the shortness of a match. On 
loading ourselves down we returned home. We carried 
fish for half a day and piled most of them outside against 
the side of the house. I estimated that we had secured 
five tons of fish. There was no danger of starving to 
death now. For supper we had fish fried, boiled, broiled, 
baked, and made into chowder. An oil barrel was prepared 
for salting down of fish to be used when we were in our 
boats. After having filled the barrel we took a long 
sleep, and on awaking discovered something had carried 
away the remainder of the fish outdoors. Had the ghost 
of Dutch returned to avenge his death by taking off the 
fish to starve us to death? Erstwhile Mr. Buncom solved 
the matter by discovering bear tracks close at hand, and 
besides, a partly consumed fish a bear had dropped. 

Said Mr. Buncom, with a smile, the first ebullition of 
mirth I had seen him express since the wreck, “ Captain, I 
think we had better court-martial the bears for stealing, 
too.” 

“We must catch them first, and now let us proceed on a 
grand hunt.” 

We all went, with the exception of Lib, who wanted to 
go. I knew he would get excited and would be more 
liable to shoot one of us. 

“ Lib, you can cook the bear, and that will be doing 
your duty.” 

“ Yesee, I cookee goodee,” replied he, whose brown face 
was jolly with grins. 

We proceeded southward to the end of our floe, which 
had broken off one-fourth a league below the house. 

6 


82 Captain Kiddle. 

Against it was another floe covering an area of ten miles, 
according to my best judgment, facilitated by my field 
glass. In many places ice was piled hundreds of feet high, 
resembling foot hills to a chain of mountains. Between 
this floe and ours at different places were crevices, where 
the ice had not been pressed firmly together. W e crossed 
over and began searching among the hummocks for bears, 
which we knew were somewhere upon this floe, as we had 
tracked them here. In some places the ice was so smooth 
that many of us fell, sustaining severe bruises. I fell 
once, striking on the back of my head as vehemently as 
when I fell upon a skating-rink floor in trying to con- 
vince my sweetheart that I was a professor of the rink. 
Mr. Buncom fell, and I looked for him to manifest pain, 
as I knew he was injured, for he fell heavily. He did not, 
but on trying to get up could not do so. 

44 I have broken my leg,” said he, coolly as if he had 
broken the stem from a clay pipe. 

I examined the left lower limb, the one he said was 
broken, and sure enough it was fractured midway between 
the knee and hip joint. I ordered four sailors, the poor- 
est hunters, to convey him home. On taking him up they 
slipped, letting him fall heavily. He cried out in pain 
and said, “I shall never consent to let you try to carry 
me. Get the Captain’s bear-skin and drag me home on it.” 
Here my bear-skin would be the means of adding comfort 
to another mortal. This augmei^ed still higher my pride 
as a hunter. I ordered Mr. Anderson to fetch it, forge t- 
ing all about his disabled hand. 

Replied he, 44 Captain, in the condition of my hand it 
would take me a long while.” 

44 Pardon me, sir ; I never thought about your injury.” 

I sent Mr. Sanborn, who started off on a dog-trot — 
his gait when pressed beyond a walk. Presently he re- 
turned with the. bear-skin and also the rope used in rescu- 
ing him and Mr. Anderson from the crevice. The rope was 
fastened to the skin by drawing it through the eye holes. 
Mr. Buncom was placed upon the skin. The men, those 
whom I ordered to carry him home, took hold of the rope 
and started. He could not cling on, the cold had be^ 
numbed him. 

“ Get inside,” said I, assisting him. Just then from be- 


^ Successful Bear-Hunt. 


83 


hind me I heard savage growls, trampling of feet, and a 
volley of shots. The hunters, with the exception of Mr. 
Anderson, came flying past, casting away their arms to 
facilitate their flight, and crying. “ Run for your life ! ” 

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw four bears, two old 
ones and two young ones, probably the same ones Dutch 
had seen just before his execution. The men on the rope 
fled also. 

44 You miserable cowards, come back,” I shouted, forget- 
ting I was fleeing as fast as I could at the same time. 

I was so excited, that I fell headlong into a crevice, 
where the rest had leaped it in safety, and were half way 
home. However, I had presence of mind enough not to 
drop my rifle. I thought of Mr. Buncom, and looked from 
my place of refuge, my eyes coming just above the surface. 
Over him stood a bear, the old he one, trying to bite him 
through the skin, which was smooth, and tough. The bear 
could do little, or no injury. I now looked upon the skin, 
as the means of saving Mr. Buncom’s life, and of course my 
pride as a great hunter loomed up before me. I was horri- 
fied, as I saw the bear thrust its head into the hole that 
admitted Mr. Buncom. The bear growled fearfully, and 
tried to grind something between its massive jaws. I 
thought it one of Mr. Buncom’s lower limbs, but after- 
wards learned that he gave bruin his knife to gnaw on. I 
was afraid to fire, knowing it would spoil my reputation as 
a remarkable shot. My surprise was great as I saw Mr. 
Anderson, barely one yard away, with a revolver pointing 
at bruin’s heart. He fired, and the bear fell flat, though 
rising the next moment and dashing at its adversary. Mr. 
Anderson sprang aside, and fired again. It was not until 
after receiving the sixth shot that bruin fell and expired. 
While watching the excitable scene the old she bear came, 
up and growled in my ear, before I was aware of its where- 
abouts. Fear paralyzed me for an instant, and I sank upon 
my knees. The bear crouched, opened its mouth, and was 
about to grab me, when my presence of mind returned. I 
thrust my rifle, half the length of the barrel, down its throat 
and fired. The recoil of the rifle, nearly dislocated my 
shoulder, besides bruising it terribly. Something warm 
spurted in my face, running down my neck, and lo, I was 
drenched with blood from head to foot. The bear expired 


84 Captain Kiddle . 

without a groan, its head hanging over the edge of the 
crevice. 

“ Bravo ! another remarkable shot ” I shouted. 

A cub came up and smelt the muzzle of my rifle. I tried 
to get it to open its mouth, but did not succeed. The 
closest I could get the end of my gun to the cub after hav- 
ing smelt of it was three feet. I dare not hazard a shot 
at such long range. My hopes grew low, but still I was 
positive it would" open its mouth, when provoked to anger; 
but could not make it angry. I made all sorts of motions, 
and called it names, both good and bad. There it stood 
wholly indifferent. At length it sat upon its haunches, 
trying to scratch its side ; then it got down on all fours, and 
came forward. It opened its mouth to gape, but closed it 
again before I could thrust in the muzzle of my rifle. I ex- 
tended my rifle above the crevice at arm’s length. The cub 
itching again, leaned against the muzzle, and began rub- 
bing itself. In leaning against the rifle, the cub removed 
the butt from my shoulder, and I planted it firm against 
the wall behind me. 

44 Captain John Digger Kiddle, now is the time for another 
remarkable shot, ” said I to myself. 

I pulled the trigger ; my rifle bounded up in the air and 
went whirling end over end. The cub rolled over and 
over with a hole through its vitals, as if shot with a six 
pound cannon ball. I heard Mr. Anderson swearing, and 
knew something was up. Looking toward, where I last 
saw him, I beheld him trying to kill the remaining cub, by 
striking it over the head with the butt of a rifle. I was 
jealous of him, fearing he would kill the same number of 
bears as myself, and called to him saying, 44 Mr. Anderson, 
stop ; you will break that gun. Come and help me out.” 

» He assisted me out, gave me his gun (I did not see my 
own anywhere about), and told me to finish the cub. Noble 
fellow ! what cared he if I killed a dozen bears to his one, 
so long as they were killed. I approached the cub, which 
Mr. Anderson had angered in trying to club it to death. 
It rose upon its haunches and opened its mouth. I took 
good aim, thrusting the muzzle well into its mouth, fired 
and blew off the top of its head. I stepped upon a low 
hummock, leaned upon my rifle, viewing ecstatically my 
glorious work of slaughter. 


Successful Bear-Hunt . 


85 


44 Captain,” inquired Mr. Buncom, “ are they all killed? ” 
u Yes ; Mr. Anderson killed one, and I ihreeT 
44 Noble, brave men ! had it not been for you and Mr. 
Anderson, the bears would now be feasting upon my bones.” 

I saw the men approaching hesitatingly, and when with- 
in earshot I shouted, 44 Come along, cowards ! ” 

They came, running, but nowise swiftly as they had fled. 
Mr. Sanborn reached me first, and seeing my J udas colored 
appearance, exclaimed 44 Oh, Massa ! ” thinking I was badly 
hurt. 

44 You coward, what made you run away ? ” 

44 Cause I see de bars.” 

I upbraided the men for their cowardice ; Mr. Anderson, 
assisted by putting in a cuss word, now and then. I set 
two men to drawing Mr. Buncom home, and the remainder, 
except Mr. Anderson, to the gettingof the carcasses home. 
Mr. Anderson and I began searching for my rifle. He 
found the stock ten rods back of the crevice whence I dis- 
charged it, and the barrel a little further on. When Mr. 
Buncom was brought in, I found his leg badly swollen. I 
had great difficulty in setting it for want of proper instru- 
ments and material. It continued to give him much pain, 
and his moaningskept us awake, more or less. We did not 
mind it much, as we were not tortured by that gnawing at 
the stomach starvation produces. When the pain became 
so intense that he could stand it no longer, I removed the 
splinters and found that gangrene had set in. I told him 
the only hope of recovery was in having the limb ampu- 
tated. 

On meditating a moment, replied he, 44 Captain, it is too 
late now for me to think of stumping out the rest of my 
days. So long as the spirit remains in my body, my limb 
shall not be amputated.” 

44 Then you cannot survive many days longer.” 

44 Captain,” replied he, as if conversing on some pleasant 
topic, 44 if the sand in my life’s hour-glass is as low as you 
predict, I have but few more days. If not, I shall recover, 
and maybe live for many long years.” 

The Esquimau examined the patient, and stammered, 
44 Me fix him.” He took a cork from a bottle, one that 
contained Simmon’s Liver Regulator, thrust in a feather, 
and drew out a whitish ointment. Holding it over the 


86 


Captain Kiddle. 

fire a moment, he applied it to the afflicted limb. We saw 
the swelling visibly decrease. 

“ Has the hand of the Great Physician touched me ? ” 
inquired Mr. Buncom, unaware of the Esquimau’s doings, 
44 1 feel no pain at all.” 

He dropped off to sleep, and slept nearly twenty-four 
hours. What were the exact ingredients of the Esquimau’s 
wonderful curative compound I never learned. It came 
from some particular part of a bear we killed and a fish 
we picked up. After two applications, gangrene ceased 
eating and the pain had left entirely. One month after 
the accident Mr. Buncom was able to leave the sick bed ; 
by the aid of a crutch he went about. The Esquimau 
was moderate in his charges — fifteen dollars. I paid him 
off with a gold eagle and half eagle. These he placed on 
a string with the rest of his coin. No amount of money 
would induce him to divulge the secret of his ^Escula- 
pian art. 


Swallowed Alive . 


87 


CHAPTER X. 

SWALLOWED ALIVE. 

The floe had parted just in front of our door, where the 
long-boat lay in which the men were storing our effects. 
Besides our clothing and so on was a small quantity of 
groceries and two barrels ; one full of bear meat and the 
other of fish. We were to take to the sea once more. I 
concluded to leave my boat and the first mate’s behind, as 
the long-boat would comfortably accommodate us all. 
About mid-ships our stove was set up, and in the bow was 
our sleeping quarters. The skins from the four bears 
that Mr. Anderson and I killed were sewed together and 
stretched over the bow, affording shelter for four men at 
once. The weather was mild and pleasant for this high 
latitude. We were nowin latitude N. 80° 0' 16", longi- 
tude W. 75° 2' 4" ; our floe having drifted both north and 
west. We did not suffer much from cold and exposure. 
The sea was comparatively clear of ice, and with favorable 
winds that prevailed for a week we made excellent head- 
way — not taking in sail or manning our oars once. Dur- 
ing this clement spell we resembled Aunt Jemima’s 
Thomas cat “that ate like any glutton.” It was well for 
us that we did so, for we invigorated our systems to under- 
go hardships to which we would have succumbed shortly 
afterwards. A storm was brewing. The stars shone 
dimly like the eye of a belle when the intoxication of 
pleasure has died out of her soul. The sky, apparently 
benign, had a mysterious cast like the face of a mother-in- 
law the first time you thwart her plans. The smoke from 
Mr. Anderson’s pipe, instead of ascending, settled around 
our heads, reminding us that his old briar-root was 
strong. The wind became inert and idly flapped the sail. 
The waves seemed to exhaust themselves in rocking us to 
and fro. What ice we saw was on a standstill. At first I 
thought of landing upon a floe and trust to its breaking 


88 


Captain Kiddle. 

up, but could find none that was not already broken up. 
All we could do was to prepare for the storm. Sail was 
taken in and life-preservers put on'. It was now my season 
to retire to the bow, but my anxiety was too great to per- 
mit me to sleep. The barometer kept falling. The sky 
was cloudless, except at the northern horizon, whence we 
knew the storm would come. Slowly the clouds arose, and 
for hours seemed to remain almost stationary. Mr. Bun- 
com, on gazing at the sky a long while, said, “ Captain, I will 
take a nap before the storm comes on. The way the sky 
looks it may be my last earthly sleep. Should it be beyond 
all will be fair 4 where no storm e’er beats on that glittering 
strand.’ ” 

Taking up his crutch he hobbled to the bow, cool and 
self-possessed is if retiring to bed on the ground floor of a 
lodging-house, equipped with all the patent fire-escapes 
ever invented. What made him so cool and self-possessed ? 
It was his steadfast hope in Christ. Mr. Anderson, slight- 
ly nervous, smoked his briar-root, and occasionally cursed 
our ill-luck. Mr. Sanborn’s skin looked blacker and the 
whites of his eyes whiter. ,7 ack sat in silence ; if afraid, 
he did not show it at all. Lib was sound asleep, dream- 
ing, as he aftewards told me, of the Flowery Kingdom. 
The storm was rapidly coming on. The wind, what little 
there was, had changed suddenly, coming now with the 
storm. In the distance was heard a low roar, and each 
moment it became louder. It seemed as if the entire 
ocean was pouring over Buncom Falls (which I will de- 
scribe hereafter). Down came the storm upon us, roaring, 
shrieking, howling, and whirling. Snow and spray, frozen 
to ice, sharp as needle-points, filled the air. It was im- 
possible to see half the length the boat. A gigantic wave 
nearly swamped us, carrying away our bear meat and fish. 
We bailed, but could not begin to keep the boat dry. 
Above the roar of the waves and gale Lib was heard 
screaming, and above all rang Mr. Anderson’s voice curs- 
ing. Presently a wave swept away the bearskins, then 
the mast snapped off and went by the board. Our stove 
was upset, leaving us in total darkness. Another huge 
wave swept us, and I heard Mr. Anderson shout, with an 
oath, “We are lost.” 


Swallowed Alive . 


.89 


“Not yet,” replied Mr. Buncom, who was awakened 
when the skins were torn away from over his head. 

Suddenly we were caught between two masses of ice. 
Once they pressed against us, and the sides of the boat 
creaked as if being stove in. 

“And now we are lost,” shouted Mr. Anderson. 

“ Wait till we are crushed in like an egg-shell,” replied 
Mr. Buncom, in his usual calm to,nes. 

It was getting intensely cold, and we tried to rig up the 
stove. Our oil was in a ten-gallon keg, under the stern 
seat. W e dared not take it out, fearing it would be swept 
overboard. 

“Is life worth further struggling for?” thought I, be- 
numbed with cold, my clothes frozen stiff. The men' bail- 
ing ceased, and declared it was no use, as it was only 
prolonging our misery. “ Bail away, lads, do not get dis- 
couraged ; the storm will soon be over, and we will live 
to enjoy many a bear-hunt yet,” said I, trying to cheer 
them. 

“ Mr. Sanborn, who had remained idle so far in the storm, 
said, “ Bess God, I’s not discuraged.” 

He bailed with great energy, and began singing one of 
his wild songs, which even made us laugh. 

His song seemed to appease the storm’s wrath, for the 
waves began to roll with less violence. We were now 
comparatively safe from being swamped. It ceased snow- 
ing, the sky became clear, and we saw that a new danger 
thwarted our course. Not more than two-thirds a league 
astern, a mountain of ice was bearing toward us with fear- 
ful rapidity. On looking at it a moment, I discovered it 
to be the same monster that wrecked us. 

“ Pull for your lives, men,” I shouted. We changed our 
course to starboard and had not gone more than two knots 
before we were overtaken. A projecting point glazed the 
stern, splintering a corner a little. The next moment I 
expected to be engulfed, but it was the beginning of our 
safety. Behind this point, there was a cavern worn in the 
ice by the waves in beating the iceberg backwards. This 
cavern resembled a great railway tunnel, but the roof in- 
stead of being concave was flat, if anything, slightly con- 
vex, and about one thousand feet across it. I did not 
ascertain its length but it extended as far in as we could 


90 


Captain Kiddle. 

see. The solitary old cruiser, the iceberg, pitying our 
forlorn condition, had come to protect us from the remorse- 
less waves. It is a calculous-hearted foe, indeed, that 
has no pity at all for the vanquished. On drawing some 
oil from the keg, we set up the stove and cooked a meal, 
consisting of a fish and ten pounds of bear meat that lay 
in the bottom of the boat. It had lodged in the boat as the 
barrel went overboard. t After eating, we all laid down for 
a nap, with the exception of Mr. Anderson, who was to re- 
main on watch and smoke his old brier-root as much as he 
chose. I was the first to wake up, and found Mr. Ander- 
son asleep. I looked at my watch, which was stopped ; it 
had run down. We had slept above twenty-four hours, as 
I wound my watch just before taking my nap. How much 
longer we slept, it is impossible to say. The light of our 
stove attracted fish, which were so numerous that the water 
seemed alive with them. A spear thrust in the water never 
failed to strike a fish. The Esquimau speared nearly a 
ton, fast as he could thrust his spear in one and shake it 
off. Then I told him we had enough for the present. The 
iceberg was bearing us homeward far faster than steam 
or sail could carry us. Our speed was remarkable ; as 
near as I could calculate, above twenty-five knots per 
hour. The gale continued, but so tranquil was it within 
the cavern I almost forgot we were upon the water at 
all. For the first time during my sea-faring life I wished 
for a gale to continue. At the close of the eighth day, 
the wind veered, and the iceberg began rocking side- 
wise. The cavern roof came down, occasionally, pretty 
close to our heads, and then went upward as much above 
its natural position. I began to get alarmed, fearing the 
mass would turn over from us, as -it leaned that way. 
When ready to quit our haven, it gave a tremendous lurch, 
and the next instant we shot upward with our boats two- 
thirds full of water. On swaying violently to and fro 
several times, the iceberg began to steady up. I saw that 
we were imprisoned in a hollow, more than one thousand 
feet across it and round, almost, as a well. We were about 
fifty feet from the top. Beneath us was one hundred 
fathoms, and I do not know how much deeper it was, for 
that was the length of our sounding line. We were im- 
prisoned, and our chance of escape looked very dubious. 


Swallowed Alive. 


91 


Our only hope of getting out lay in the devising of some 
successful plan of reaching the top and hoisting up the 
boat. But how were we to ever scale those smooth, per- 
pendicular walls ? While I was meditating on some plan 
Mr. Sanborn took up a hatchet, stood upon a seat (we lay 
broadside to the south wall), cut a niche in the wall, pitch- 
ing downward a little. Eighteen inches above this one, he 
cut another niche, and another the same distance above 
this one. Before we were aware of his intentions, he was 
one fourth way up the wall. With as much ease as an ex- 
perienced hod-carrier ascends his ladder, Mr. Sanborn 
climbed his ice-stairs, cutting his way as he went. On 
reaching the top, he drew several deep breaths, and shouted, 
“ Fro me up de rope ! ” 

I could not cast a stone that high, and Mr. Anderson 
declared it an impossibility. Mr. Buncom ordered the boat 
shoved off from the wall, about ten yards. When this was 
done he poised a harpoon to which a small line was attached, 
and cast it upward. The harpoon went almost straight 
up, and when at the height of Mr. Sanborn’s head, it curved 
and fell at his feet. Mr. Sanborn ordered our ten fathom 
rope made fast to the end of the line, and pulled it up. 
Bracing himself, he held the rope in his powerful grasp 
and called out, saying, “ Clim’ up dar.” 

Mr. Wilcox was the first to ascend. Placing his toes in 
the niches, he went up with ease. Mr. Buncom fastened 
the rope about his body and was pulled up. After him 
Mr. Anderson went up in the same manner, on account of 
his disabled hand. The remainder of the sailors climbed up, 
two at a time. After them, the third mate ascended. Lib 
was ordered to climb up. On ascending the height of 
himself, he let go the rope and fell back in the boat. The 
carpenter tied the rope about the Mongolian’s body, and 
then his cue around the rope. He was pulled up, scream- 
ing at every breath. Jack and the Esquimau began climb- 
ing up. When half-way up, Jack stopped, saying he was 
“ heap tired.” A prod from the Esquimau’s spear revived 
him wonderfully. The Esquimau, thinking we were going 
to let the boat and its contents remain where they were, 
took his weapon with him. After giving the carpenter 
instructions how to fasten the ropes around the boat so 
that it would not be injured in hoisting, I gave orders 


92 Captain Kiddle . 

to be pulled up. Mr. Sanborn pulled me up about twice 
the length of myself, stopped, lowered me back and said, 
“ Massa, get on dar.” 

“ I am on.” 

“ You is not.” 

“ Hoist away ! ” 

Here was another dig at my insignificance ; so light, 
that Mr. Sanborn could discern no difference as to whether 
I was on the rope or off it. When my head met his sight 
he was surprised. On being landed, after bowing pro- 
foundly, said he, “ Massa, I beg pard’n.” 

While our effects were coming up, I took in the situa- 
tion of things. We were upon a flat and on three sides 
the ice towered high above us. Down the flat, two or 
three hundred yards, it was broken off abruptly. Prob- 
ably it's breaking here had made it top-heavy, causing it 
to upset. I gazed over the edge of the perpendicular wall, 
and saw that the sea was at least two hundred and fifty 
feet below me. This was in the lowest place at that. 

“ We are baffled at last,” said I. 

Somehow or other, I did not consider our situation as 
entirely hopeless, for we had overcome so many seeming 
impossibilities. I returned and reported what I had seen. 

“ An impossible thing,” exclaimed Mr. Levy, bringing 
his money-bag down on his knee to make his words more 
emphatic. 

“ Nothing of the sort,” replied Mr. Anderson, lighting 
his old brier-root, which Lib held for him to light. 

“ Massa, I get you down dar,” said Mr. Sanborn, pulling 
on a rope with all his might, for the boat was coming up 
now. 

He drew a deep breath, and began again. 

“Stop,” said one of the four on the other rope (there 
were two ropes to the boat) “ we are completely out of 
breath yet.” 

After considerable of peculiar shouting, as sailors shout 
at the captain or when hauling on heavy ropes, the boat was 
landed. On cutting a small trench for foothold along the 
brink of the wall over which we were to be lowered, the 
boat was brought here and let down with a single rope. 
This rope consisted of our ten fathom one and a half-inch 
rope, doubled four times. In lowering the boat, the ice 


Swallowed Alive. 


93 


wore the rope fearfully, cutting two strands of the rope 
made from the half-inch one in twain. The third mate 
descended, fastened the boat to the iceberg, and loosened 
the rope. We fastened the parted strands together and 
changed ends with the rope ; bringing the inch rope to the 
top, where the wear on it was greatest. The sailors de- 
scended, one at a time, sliding down, getting down, as best 
they could. Mr. Buncom followed, lowered in the same 
manner as he came up. Next went Mr. Anderson in the 
same way. After him went the Esquimau, hand over 
hand, with as much ease as a professional rope climber. 
Lib, as usual, was frightened almost out of his wits. Mr. 
Sanborn insisted on him sliding down the rope, which, if 
he did, I knew would be the last of him. 

Said I, “ Mr. Sanborn, if anything happens the China- 
man, you must do the cooking.” 

“ Ts a gentleman,” replied he, hauling up the rope ; and 
when up he made a noose in the end. Through the noose 
Lib thrust his right foot, and Mr. Sanborn gave his cue 
several half hitches around the rope. Lib was lowered 
over the brink, screaming in terror. Presently the rope 
gave a little jerk. “ That’s the last of him,” said I for I 
was sure he had fallen off. When I looked over the brink 
I saw that Lib was still on, only having let go the rope. 
His foot had slipped and his leg was through the noose up 
to the knee. There he was in a horizontal attitude held 
by the leg and cue. He clawed the air frantically with 
both hands, and shrieked at the top of his lungs. This 
incident proves that his cue was useful as well as orna- 
mental. Mr. Levy and the carpenter next descended, slid- 
ing down. Jack slid down with the velocity of almost 
falling completely. He struck upon a seat and broke it 
in fragments, sustaining no injuries at all, except the rope 
burning his hands. As he looked at them, he exclaimed, 
“Hope heap hot! ” 

Now came my turn, and when ready to be lowered, said 
I,' “ Mr. Sanborn, before coming down, be sure to fasten 
the rope so that it will be safe.” 

“ Massa,” replied he, in tones uncommonly earnest, u I 
want no rope.” 

“Then how are you ever going to get down ? ” 

“ Jump, Massa.” 


94 


Captain Kiddle. 

“ What ! two hundred and fifty feet ? That would be 
outjumping Sam Patch.” 

“ I’s no ’fraid ’cause dis head ob mine am hard.” 

He lowered me down. I saw that the iceberg was full 
of seams, and that each wave shattered it more and more. 
Our traps were now being lowered, and with the last por- 
tion of them came Mr. Sanborn’s clothes. After shouting 
for us to look out, he let the rope drop. I gazed upward 
and could not help admiring the stalwart form that stood 
so high above us. He was nude from the waist up, having 
on a pair of red flannel drawers. 

“ I’s goin’ to jump,” he shouted. 

“ Wait till we are out of your way.” 

I was afraid he might possibly land in the boat. With 
that head of his downward I knew he would penetrate the 
bottom like a cannon shot. I would not have risked the 
heaviest armor plate known. When we were at a safe dis- 
tance, I heard a wild shout; a black and red form, with 
hands clasped above the head, sprang into the air and 
turned head downward. Descending with fearful veloc- 
ity, he struck the water — a loud splash, and forty-five 
seconds afterwards by my watch, which I held in my hand, 
Mr. Sanborn’s woolly head appeared above the surface. 
Shaking the water from his head, he opened his eyes and 
exclaimed, u Thank God, I’s saved ! ” 

We cheered loudly, and called him a brave fellow, which 
indeed he was. To this he replied, on being picked up, 
“ I’s a gentleman.” 

I measured the rope from a knot indicating the top of 
the wall, and found it to be two hundred and fifty-two 
feet. Mr. Sanborn sprung up in the air at least eight feet 
— making the total height of the leap two hundred and 
sixty feet. This, I think, exceeds any leap on record. 
Just as I finished the leaping problem, a terrific crash 
was heard, and I saw the iceberg from which we had just 
escaped fall into fragments, engendering high waves. Had 
we remained upon the iceberg fifteen minutes longer, we 
would have all been destroyed as were its motives when 
wrecking us. The greater portion of the sharp, hard point 
floated away by itself, and on finding its power so reduced, 
turned point downward. It resembled some powerful 
monarch who swayed at will the scepter of nations, till the 


Sivallowed Alive. 


95 


crash came, depriving him of power and glory ; so humili- 
ating him that he turned his. face downward and became 
one among the common masses of mankind. Most of the 
fish in the well (as I call that round hole we were impris- 
oned in) were killed by the ice crushing and grinding to- 
gether. We picked up about the same number of pounds 
the Esquimau had speared, and could have had ten times 
this amount, for the waves were covered with them. 
Among the fish was a good sized whale, crushed flat. 
We were again upon the waves, and having had so many 
narrow escapes, I began to think we were invulnerable,, 
and laughed at the deleterious polar climate and sea. Our 
sail being gone, and mast too, we made a small sail of 
blankets, rigged it to an extra mast we had along, and 
made fair headway. I took an observation which placed 
us in latitude N. 68° 20' 1" longitude W. 72° 10' 9". We 
were six hundred and ninety miles south of where our 
wreck occurred. The weather was mild and almost 
spring-like, and we had great hopes of being picked up by 
a whaling cruiser. One of our number kept my field-glass 
almost constantly on the eastern, western, and southern 
horizon. We looked in vain, as for the appearance of a 
favorite actress when the curtain has dropped for the last 
time. 

“ The sea is deserted,” said I, laying down my glass, 
after looking through it about an hour. 

I laid down and took a long nap. When I awoke, the 
sea was considerably ruffled by a southerly wind. 

“ Did you see that ? ” inquired Mr. Buncom, pointing to 
the south. 

“No ; and what did you see? ” 

“It resembled a light.” 

“ It must be nothing but a star.” 

There was a bright star in this direction, gleaming just 
above the waves. 

“ I am positive it was not,” replied Mr. Buncom, “ for 
the star is too high above the waves to disappear as that 
light did.” 

“ I will leave you star-gazing,” said I, jocosely, “ but I 
am going to take another nap. Be sure and call me if any- 
thing goes wrong.” 

I sought my bearskin, in which Mr. Anderson and Lib 


96 


Captain Kiddle. 

we re sleeping. I called out Lib and got in myself. Mr. Ander- 
son’s tobacco-tainted breath made it very disagreeable for 
me. However, I obviated the disagreeableness by turning 
my back to him and breathing through an airhole. I do 
not know how long I had slept when somebody tapped 
upon the skin and said, 44 Captain, we are saved.” 

44 Are what?” inquired I, for I heard not the assertion 
distinctly. 

44 Saved, thank God.” 

Now I knew it was Mr. Buncom who had spoken. I 
• crawled forth reluctantly, as my quarters were so warm 
and comfortable. The chilly air made me shiver, and my 
teeth rattled together like Lib’s when severely frightened. 
I looked around, but saw nothing. 

44 How are we saved, and what has saved us ? ” 

44 Look yonder,” replied Mr. Buncom, pointing, as I 
thought, towards a star. 

44 You will be much older than you are now, before stars 
take to picking up shipwrecked sailors,” replied I, some- 
what exasperated by being called from my quarters, which 
I re-entered and was soon sound asleep. 

The next thing that aroused me was loud cheers from 
the men, as if applauding a brilliant political speech from 
a candidate for the Presidency. 

44 The fools ! they have all gone mad over the sight of a 
star ! ” said I, to myself. 

At length I got out to tell my opinion of them ; then I 
saw something too. I blended my thin, shrill voice with 
theirs. At the south, two bright lights rose and fell with 
the waves. 

44 Captain, now what do you think? ” inquired Mr. Bun- 
com. 

44 That looks good ; and how far off do you think she 
is?” 

Of course we all thought it the lights of a ship. 

44 About one league and a half.” 

44 1 am glad,” said Mr. Anderson, who came from the 
skin shortly after myself, 44 for I am almost out of to- 
bacco.” 

44 Is that all you are glad for, you thankless fellow ?” said 
I, much vexed, for he valued the gratification of a vice 
;above his own life. 


Sivallowed Alive, 


97 


“I am glad our hardships are at an end. We have all 
lost terribly, myself particularly.” 

“ Captain, you forget all about Mr. Solomon Levy,’ r 
spoke the Jew, laughing dryly, which sounded like the 
chink of a silver dollar falling upon another. “I like just 
such a voyage, for I make lots of money. I tell you* 
friends, that Mr. Solomon Levy is a smart man. When 
we get home I will open a store and sell so cheap that 
everybody will patronize me. Soon I would make a for- 
tune.” * 

“ The chickens are not hatched yet, as the old hen has. 
another week to set, and she may die on the nest.” 

“ Then I would finish the hatching with an incubator.” 

While Mr. Levy and I were conversing, the lights dis- 
appeared. We rowed vigorously in the direction of the 
lights for an hour, wondering what had become of the ship. 
We fired our guns and shouted till hoarse. At the west, 
about the same distance off as when the lights disappeared,, 
we saw the lights flash for a moment and disappear again. 
What was the cause of this strange phenomenon ? Was it 
the Phantom Ship, searching for souls of departed sailors 
to man her? Had the Flying Dutchman ceased beating 
against head-winds and taken to cruising these waters ? 
Again the lights appeared, steady and strong. We fired 
another volley, and shouted loud as our hoarseness would 
admit. Thank heaven ! at last we had attracted attention. 
On came the supposed ship, and we heard a rumbling not 
unlike the sound of a side-wheel steamboat. Mr. Levy,, 
with money-bag in hand, stood in the bow to be rescued 
first. 

“Not quite so fast, my friend,” said I, “for there is 
plenty of time yet.” 

“ I want to be first aboard, for I have important busi- 
ness to transact.” 

He afterwards told me it was his intention to buy up all 
the tobacco for sale aboard, and retail it to his comrades at 
an exorbitant price. The lights disappeared, but soon 
rose about one league astern. We turned about, and on 
came the mysterious concern, with the rapidity of a light- 
ning express. The lights — a monster’s eyes — glared like 
the headlight of a locomotive. The water was much agi- 
tated, and began foaming and boiling past us. 

7 


98 Captain Kiddle. 

“ It is not a ship, but the devil,” I shouted ; “ turn about, 
men, and pull.” 

A disagreeable odor like that from an alligator came on 
the air. 

“It is a monster of the deep, one of Job’s Leviathans,” 
shouted Mr. Buncom. 

He made his way astern, to where Mr. Anderson sat with 
rifle in hand, and poised his harpoon. 

“ Oh, what will become of my money? ” cried Mr. Levy, 
almost ready to weep. 

“ What will become of you, and us all ? ” inquired I. 

“ My money, oh, my money,” was his reply. 

Lib had crawled into the bear-skin and was making 
hideous outcries. The Esquimau stood behind Mr. Buncom, 
with spear ready for a thrust. Jack, the only indifferent 
one, took the matter philosophically, and said, “ Maybe we 
get eat and maybe not.” 

The monster was upon us, its mouth larger than the 
entrance of a railway tunnel. It had teeth, two rows of 
them, ten feet long, large, round as Mr. Buncom’s body, 
and coming to a needle-like point. I heard Mr. Anderson 
utter an oath and fire. Mr. Buncom’s harpoon clashed 
against the teeth ; the massive jaws snapped together, and 
we slid downward in total darkness. The mast was broken 
off. In falling it struck me upon the head, rendering me 
insensible for some time. 


Remarkable Escape. 


99 


CHAPTER XI. 

REMARKABLE ESCAPE. 

When I became conscious, Mr. Anderson was pouring 
water over my head. 

“ Captain,” said be, “ you bad indeed a very narrow 
escape.” 

44 Are we two the only survivors ? ” 

“We are all safe and sound,” said Mr. Wilcox. 

Mr. Anderson assisted me to sit up, and I saw Mr. Bun- 
com reading his Testament. If he did this any other time 
except just before retiring, it indicated great danger. There 
he sat, wholly absorbed in his book, while I expected the 
monster would begin digesting us at any moment. Mr. 
Sanborn, who by the way had lit our lamp — the stove — 
which was extinguished as we were swallowed, began 
stropping his razor to shave himself. He borrowed Mr. 
Anderson’s hand-mirror and began cutting off the little 
kufts of hair growing here and there on his face like clumps 
of hazel-brush over a prairie. 

44 Mr. Sanborn, what are you doing that for ? ” inquired I. 

“ Oh, I’s goin’ to de Lord, and want to look respect’ble.” 

Lib continued to shriek and I told Jack to silence him. 
He pulled the Mongolian out the bear-skin, shook him 
vigorously, and threatened to cut off his cue if he did not 
remain silent. On silencing the Mongolian he said, 44 Me 
heap hungry,” and began eating a boiled fish. On looking 
around, I saw that our place of confinement was cylinder 
shaped, about twenty feet in diameter and not less than 
one hundred long. This was the first stomach or store- 
room. The texture was whitish and tough ; a harpoon 
thrust had little effect upon it. The stern of our boat 
rested upon the snout of a whale about the length of the 
boat — thirty feet. Its tail was against the valve opening 
into the second stomach, where the work of digestion was 


100 Captain Kiddle, 

carried on. How soon we would pass in thence, we had no 
idea. If the whale was enough to satisfy its appetite, we 
might possibly escape for twenty-four hours. Then, in our 
present condition, we might be crushed to death hy 
another whale, or long-boat full of men, for all we knew* 
coming down on us. There was another danger ; if the 
monster drank it would drown us. Mr. Anderson said 
he intended to make the monster as much trouble as 
possible. Taking up the ten fathom rope he began climb- 
ing up toward the great mouth. He was gone a long* 
while, and we began to think the monster had ejected 
him. At last he came back, saying he had made the rope 
fast around the roots of the monster’s tongue, and then 
tied an end to our bow. As long as the rope lasted, we 
were in no danger of passing into the second stomach. 
This was a wise plan — one that I would never have thought 
of — and it saved our lives. By this time Mr. Sanborn had 
finished shaving and began- donning a white shirt, broad- 
cloth suit, stand-up collar, flaming red neck-tie, silk hat* 
and white kids. I do not know how he managed to keep 
them from soiling ; all my clothing was hardly fit to be seen 
in — salt water having ruined it. There Mr. Sanborn 
sat, smiling, conscious of being the best dressed among us. 
Perchance he did appear respectable in the eyes of the 
Lord, like many throughout the length and breadth of our 
land, who exert every energy to appear as the most fashion- 
ably dressed that come to the house of worship on the 
Sabbath. Nor would he doff his attire ; for nothing could 
induce him to believe that the Lord was not ready to re- 
ceive him just yet. Lib got over his fright and cooked a 
meal. As we were eating, the monster drank great quan- 
tities of water. Down it came rushing, lifting the boat 
hard up against the roof or top of the stomach. Had not 
Mr. Anderson secured the boat we would have been upset 
and drowned. It was twelve hours before the water left 
entirely. Shortly after it had all left, the valve between 
the stomachs opened. A gas escaped which nearly asphyx- 
iated us. When it became more wholesome, I looked for 
the whale, but it was gone. During the next twelve hours 
nothing broke upon the monotony. We all had a good 
sleep except Mr. Buncom, who remained on watch, reading 
his Testament at the same time. Then another torrent 


101 


Remarkable Escape. 

came down the throat, the valve opened, and we were 
nearly asphyxiated again. Mr. Anderson threw over 
several fish heads and a broken cutlass, which immediately 
passed in the second stomach. The fragment of steel put 
the monster in misery and it began floundering ; with 
difficulty we remained in the boat. We could hear the 
massive jaws crash together and knew it was angry. Had 
it known what a pest man is, it would undoubtedly have 
shunned us. The jaws clashed together so savagely that 
we were startled. Down came a small whale, and by a 
flap of its tail bounded clear over us, though it brushed 
Mr. Sanborn’s hat from his head. The next instant the 
whale passed into the second stomach. We knew now 
that tranquillity would reign for a while, and all took a nap 
except Mr. Wilcox, on watch, who read a dime novel with 
as much interest as Mr. Buncom had his Testament. On 
the next drink, like a pill in a tumbler of water, came a 
barrel, which we took aboard and, strange to tell, it was 
our bear meat. Not wishing to be considered greedy, we 
took out the meat, and gave the monster the empty barrel. 
No sooner had we emptied the barrel than another one 
came— our barrel offish. We took care of it, and cast 
overboard about its weight in fresh fish. Then came a 
complete string of fish; some crushed flat, which we knew 
were killed by the iceberg. Most of the fish went straight 
into the second stomach. Presently the valve closed and 
fish came down so fast, we had to stow them away back of 
us. A whale, crushed flat, came next, and we readily 
identified it as the one the iceberg had killed. We had to 
cut it up and stow it away upon the fish. The monster 
was determined we should not ride free, and thus made us 
work our passage. Another season of rest came, in which 
time we tried out blubber and filled our keg, which was 
about empty. Soon as we had filled it, bounding over 
each other came ten barrels— part of the Boreas’ cargo, 
of oil. 

“ Captain, it would not surprise me in the least if I were 
to behold part of the wreck coming down on us,” said Mr. 
Buncom, who had spoken for the first time since being 
swallowed, unless spoken to. He had been reading his 
Testament all the time not occupied in eating and sleep- 
ing. 


102 Captain Kiddle. 

44 No,” replied I, 44 the old fellow is greedy as a land- 
grabbing syndicate.” 

True enough, a portion of the wreck came ; the anchor 
and chain, and also a portion of the mainmast. The car- 
penter set up a shop, and began making a mast for our boat 
from the fragment. When completed, it was placed in the 
boat along the bottom. A sail, one of those we spread upon 
the deck to keep out the cold, came next. This was just 
what we wanted. Mr. Wilcox set up a sail loft, and made 
a sail from it, though a trifle too large. Great horrors ! 
down came the headless and one-armed remains of a human 
being, and bounded right into our boat. At once I recog- 
nized the remains as those of the unfortunate boatswain. 
I ordered them sewed up in canvas, for I intended to 
give the deceased a Christian burial if we got out alive. 
Presently down came the rifle Mr. Buncom lost the time I 
killed my first bear. The rifle must have been picked up 
from the sea bottom. Truly, the monster was a first-rate 
diver. Somehow or other, I expected something of this 
sort, and down came another human remains — partly de- 
voured — those of Dutch. Mr. Anderson laid them upon 
the heap of fish. As he was handling them, the fatal bullet 
dropped into his hand. He kept the bullet as a memento. 
Lastly came twenty-five barrels of oil. We pulled the boat 
up the length of itself, and stood these barrels on end 
behind us. 

Said Mr. Anderson, 44 1 propose that we set fire to this 
oil, making it so warm for the monster’s stomach that it 
will cast us out like the whale did Jonah.” 

Replied I, 44 Mr. Anderson, your proposition is feasible, 
except one drawback : suppose it would hot be disposed to 
cast us out? ” 

“.Well, if we do not try to get out, it is only a question 
of time when we will pass into the other room ; and as this 
is the parlor, you can judge what the kitchen is like.” 

44 Men, shall we fire this oil?” inquired I. 

44 Yes,” came the unanimous reply, with the exception of 
Lib, who objected, saying, 44 Too muchee fire.” 

“You little pigtailed Mongolian, if you say another 
word, I will thrust you amid that pile of fish ; ” said Mr. 
Anderson, after a vigorous pull at his old brier-root. 

I would have preferred death by fire than enter the 


103 


Remarkable Escape . 

“kitchen,” as Mr. Anderson termed it. We pulled our 
boat close to the roots of the monster’s tongue, and fastened 
it there. These proceedings tickled its throat and made it 
cough. Mr. Anderson and Wilcox climbed down the an- 
chor chain, which had been hauled up, and a big ring in 
the end placed over a tooth. They knocked in the heads 
of the barrels that stood on end, and broke open those that 
lay on their bilge. The oil flowed amid the heterogeneous 
mass. They climbed up and ate a hearty meal. Mr. San- 
born haying concluded that the Lord did not crave his 
presence just yet, took off his finery and said he would 
assist in firing the oil. He went in Mr. Anderson’s stead, 
who sat smoking his brier-root. Mr. Sanborn gave one of 
his wild whoops, and applied a torch to one of the barrels. 
Mr. Wilcox fired the loose oil, a red flame burst forth, and 
the monster began floundering, beating the water with its 
tail or fins, making a terrible roar without. As Mr. San- 
born reached the boat, a flood came pouring down. The 
oil rose to the surface burning deflagrant. The valve 
opened, and the flames spread into the kitchen, increasing 
its misery. The water in rushing down nearly deafened 
us. We were now tight up against the roof and around us 
the oil began burning. How hot it got ! I saw the oakum 
in the seams of the boat take fire. We lay flat on the bot- 
tom with our heads under some blankets. My clothes took 
fire and in extinguishing them I burned my hands. I 
looked at a thermometer I chanced to have out, and it in- 
dicated 210° above zero. My hair and beard were singed 
close off. Mr. Sanborn uncovered his head, and the wool 
curled closer than ever to the scalp. 

Said he, “Massa, dis am like de bad place de Bible 
speaks ob.” 

The fire at last made the monster sick at the stomach and 
it began belching. Mr. Anderson, observing this, uncovered 
his head, cursed considerably as he felt his hair and beard 
singe off, and cut the rope with a cutlass. The next in- 
stant the monster gave a fearful groan, and I felt the boat 
shoot forward as if shot from some great gun made ex- 
pressly for such purposes. 

“ Thank God, we have escaped from that inferno,” said 
I, breathing fresh air once more. 


104 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XII. 

LAND SIGHTED. 

We went flying above the waves about six feet, going at 
least eighty miles an hour for three hours, then our speed 
rapidly decreased, and we soon dropped upon the waves. 
Fortunately the spray extinguished the fire that was con- 
suming our boat. Within our Icarian flight I looked back 
once and beheld a pillar of fire from the monster which we 
made ignivoinous, ascending at least one hundred feet. 
What sort of a monster was this? Was it akin to that 
seen by Captain M’Quhae, August 6th, 1848, in latitude 
S. 24° 44' and longitude E. 9° 22' ? Was it the “poulpe ” 
of DeMontfort which was large enough to swallow a three- 
decker? 

To prove there are monsters in the deep, I will cite 
the following: “Borough of Liverpool, in the County 
Palatine of Lancaster, to wit: We, the undersigned, cap-, 
tain, officers, and crew of the bark Pauline (of London) 
of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, in the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, do solemnly and 
sincerely declare that on July 8, 1875, in lat. 5° 13 S., 
long. 35° W., we observed three large sperm whales, and 
one of them was gripped around the body with two turns 
of what appeared to be a huge serpent. The head and tail 
appeared to have a length beyond the coils of about thirty 
feet, and its girth, eight or nine feet. The serpent whirled 
its victim round and round for about fifteen minutes, and 
then suddenly dragged the whale to the bottom, head first. 

George Dreyar, Master, 

Horatio Thompson, 

John Hueder yon Landers, 
Owen Barker, 

Wm. Lewarn.” 

Mr. Buncom could never come to any other con- 


Land Sighted . 


105 


elusion but that it was a Leviathan spoken of in the Script- 
ures by Job. How long had it roamed these desolate 
seas ? And how many shipwrecked crews had it swallowed 
before us? It was not at all scrupulous in its appetite, 
but devoured everything that came in its way with the 
greed with which Time consumes both mail and his works. 
What was its shape? Did the fire prove fatal? I can 
only conjecture. Anyhow its stomach must have been 
burnt raw. I was surprised on taking an observation which 
placed us in latitude N. 88° 0' 1", longitude W. 1° 2' 8". 
W e were further away from home than ever. Thinking I 
had made a mistake, I took a second observation, which 
agreed precisely with the first. 

“ What ! ” exclaimed I, “ only two degrees from the 
North Pole ! ” 

“ What care I how near we are to the Pole ! If we were 
only two degrees from home I would be happy,” said Mr. 
Anderson demurely. 

“ Why just think how many brave lives have been sacri- 
ficed in trying to reach this Pole.” 

“ We would never have been here had it not been for that 
devilish monster,” continued Mr. Anderson, “ and itis a pity 
it doesn’t gobble up every fool who attempts to reach the 
North Pole. It is hard enough on a fellow to come into 
this frigid zone a-whaling, let alone cruising the ocean over 
to find something that is not worth looking at when 
found.” 

“ Mr. Anderson, I fear you are not much of a scientist. 
How many a scientist would give all he is worth to be in 
your shoes now.” 

“Would give all I am worth, though deuced little, to be 
in his shoes. What is life without plenty of tobacco and 
good grog ? ” 

“ Mr. Levy,” said I, addressing the Jew, who sat astern 
with his money-bag in his lap, “ you say you are a smart 
man.” 

u Yes, Solomon Levy is.” 

“ I can tell you how to make a fortune in a short time.” 

“How, how?” he exclaimed, jumping up and clapping 
his hands together. 

“ When we arrive home, get out a book about the North 
Pole, and of your adventures there.” 


106 


Captain Kiddle . 


His countenance grew serious till an imperial expression 
ran athwart it and he said, “Mr. Solomon Levy under- 
stands storekeeping much better than book-writing. He 
can take a second-hand suit, renovate it, and sell it for 
new. A second-hand book, though the production of a 
brilliant author, can never be made new again.” 

I had entirely forgotten the boatswain’s remains, and 
proceeded to give them a Christian burial. Having no 
weights to sink the body, it floated off when placed amid 
the waves, probably to be devoured by the monster again, 
on recovery from its hot meal. 

Being so near the North Pole, I concluded to reach it 
if possible ; not for the purpose of immortalizing my 
name as its discoverer, but to satisfy my own curiosity. 
The gradually increasing warmer winds and benign skies 
surprised us agreeably. It was almost as warm as the 
latter part of April at home. I placed my hands in the 
water and found it warm. A perceptible current was 
flowing north-east, the same direction as we were going. 
The warm life-giving waters had melted away the ice, and 
the only ice to be seen was at the west, where the waves 
and sky seemed to meet. 

Said I, “ As the water and air are so favorable, I think I 
will take a bath.” 

While saying so I began to cast off my clothes, which 
were almost ready to drop off on their own account, having 
been scorched by the fire while in the monster’s stomach. 
As I stood looking at my skeleton-like arms, nothing more 
than skin, sinew, and bone, I was frightened at their 
emaciated appearance. When ready to plunge overboard, 
Mr. Buncom stretched out his great broad hand and said, 
“Captain, stand upon my hand; I will drop you in the 
water.” 

I stepped upon his hand, the left one ; he held me out at 
arm’s length and let me down gently. I sank only to the 
waist, and there I stood, as if my feet were planted upon 
solid rock. Why ? I was so light and insignificant, the 
water would not cover me up. I walked through the water 
as if wading through so much soft snow. There seemed 
to be some mysterious force buoying me up. I have some- 
where read an account of a traveler’s bath in the Dead 
Sea, and he stated the water was so buoyant, that it was 


Land Sighted. 


107 


Impossible to sink. At that time I concluded that I was 
in water similar to the Dead Sea. Mr. Anderson came in 
and sank to the arm-pits, and with an oath climbed back 
into the boat. 

Said he, “ Captain, Ian sure one of those devilish 
monsters is under us, for I felt something disturbing the 
water, as if old Atlas himself was trying to raise up the 
ocean bed.” 

I thought he was talking just to break the silence, as no- 
body had anything to say. Presently I began bobbing up 
and down like a whistling buoy. This adawed my fears, 
and I climbed aboard. When donning my clothes, the 
coat and vest fell apart. While wondering how to mend 
them or substitute something in their stead, a deep 
rumbling came from under the water. 

“We are to be swallowed again, I suppose,” said Mr. 
Buncom, looking up from his Testament. 

“ Swallowed again ! ” exclaimed Mr. Levy, thrusting his 
money-bag under his coat and folding his arms over it. “I 
would not mind it so long as my money is safe.” 

Suddenly before us a great column of water shot up in 
the air, hundreds of feet. In its violent ascent, many 
large fish were taken up and killed while falling back 
again. There was one I noticed in particular. It must 
have weighed above one hundred pounds ; it struck within 
a yard of our bow, and wetted us considerably with the 
splash it engendered. We lay off a few hundred yards, 
watching the grand display. 

Presentl}' the column began to descend, and ere long 
dwindled down to the height of fifty feet. When at this 
height, Mr. Sanborn stepped overboard and walked upon 
the water, to the geyser, sinking just above the ankles. 
Into the ascending column he leaped, up he went, and 
came down, of course, head first. 

“ I will try a little of that myself,” said Mr. Anderson, 
laying aside his brier-root. 

“ And so will I,” said Mr. Wilcox. 

We rowed close up to the geyser in which Mr. Ander- 
son jumped ; he went up and dropped, feet first. 

“ If this is not rare sport,” said he, “ tell me what is.” 

Then he walked away more than one hundred yards, 
sinking only to the knees. There must have been many 


108 


Captain Kiddle. 

small geysers in action, making the water so buoyant. 
There we all stood in a circle, round the geyser, jumping 
in, one at a time. Jack at length jumped in, and came 
down in a sitting posture. I knew it hurt him, and in- 
quired if I could do anything to mitigate the pain. 

He showed no signs of pain, but said, “ Heap hard 
water.” 

What a bath we had. The geyser was about exhausted, 
and with the exception of myself, all began sinking to the 
arm-pits, and we climbed in the boat. We felt more re- 
freshed than any time since the wreck. I attributed the 
clemency of both air and water to these geysers, but after- 
wards found myself mistaken. My singed hair and beard 
corresponded very well with my clothes. On looking in Mr. 
Anderson’s mirror, I was surprised at my hideous appear- 
ance. One side of my beard, the side that Lib singed with 
a rifle discharge, was off close to the skin, and the other 
stuck out about two inches. The fire had made me bald 
almost as Mr. McFadden. I had the wig yet, and con- 
cluded to put it on, after I had crawled in the bear-skin 
for a nap. At my request, Mr. Sanborn finally agreed to 
shave me ; and when the tonsorial act was completed, he 
laughed in my face, saying I looked like Lib. I looked at 
myself in the mirror, then at Lib, and saw there was really 
an affinity in our likenesses. I crawled in the bear-skin on 
the pretense of being weary. I fitted the wig to my head 
and came out. Among my effects was a bottle of Hall’s Hair 
Renewer, belonging to my deceased aunt. Mr. Anderson 
was cursing because his hair — at this time he had a fine 
head of hair — was singed off. I gave him the bottle, and 
said, “ Here, apply some of this to your pate. I am sure 
it will soon bring out a longer and more luxurious growth 
than you had before the fire.” 

“ Away with your quack medicine,” replied he. 

But I put some on my head” — and so I did, about two 
years before — “ and now I can show something more than 
a bald pate.” 

I raised my hat and showed the wig. 

“ Wonderful! ” exclaimed all. 

“ That is the first quack medicine that ever did as repre- 
sented,” said Mr. Anderson, applying some to his pate. 

My coat and vest, as I have said, were in pieces. I 


Land Sighted. 109 

could not mend them, for they were scorched so as not to 
hold thread. I had a pair of double, purple blankets. I 
cut them apart, folded one corner-wise, and threw it over 
my shoulders. Mr. Levy said I looked like a Rabbi, which 
made me a little proud. Mr. Anderson declared I resem- 
bled a crone he saw peddling apples in the streets of Liver- 
pool. This made me angry ; I knew I looked effeminate, 
and there was no use of being told about it. Mr. Sanborn 
remarked I looked like a naval commander, and suggested 
I ought to wear some mark of distinction. Indeed, I was 
a naval commander, but my man-of-war was small. I had 
come out victorious in the encounter with the monster, 
without the loss of a man. We had been hundreds of feet 
above water — upon the iceberg — and below — while in the 
monster’s stomach. What number of men going up in 
the air like ourselves, to the height we went, ever 
came down alive ? Once I saw twenty -five souls go up 
with the deck and boilers of a steamboat following them, 
and the last one came down dead as the old year on New 
Year’s Day. I saw fifty souls go down, ship included, 
and not one of them ever came to the surface again. Mr. 
Sanborn found an empty tin can ; he cut two pieces, three 
by four inches from it, and fastened them on my shoulders, 
making superfine epaulettes. He tied an old green scarf 
around my waist and placed in a cutlass — one that was 
bright as when coming from the factory. This was my 
sword. I began to feel my position and longed for a deck 
to pace, giving orders to my men. Mr. Sanborn donned 
his broadcloth, etc., not that he expected to go to the 
Lord, but for ostentation. Mr. Andersoiv said he did not 
care how he looked, if he only had some chewing tobacco. 
Unknown to him Mr. Levy had four pounds of navy plug, 
which he intended to sell when the tobacco famine was in 
its worst degree. Mr. Levy looked quite respectable ex- 
cept the crown of his hat, which was burnt out, and also a 
great hole in the back of his coat. In fact the whole back 
was nearly gone. Had there been a hole burnt through 
his smallest coin, if such a thing was possible, he would 
have grieved sorely. He sat in the bow counting his coin, 
the same as he did every twelve hours, when death seemed 
not inevitable. Mr. Buncom, poor fellow, had no clothes; 


110 


Captain Kiddle. 

when he took them off for a bath they all fell to pieces ex- 
cept the underclothes. 

Said he, 44 Captain, would you object if I wore your bear- 
skin till we arrive somewhere where I can get something 
to wear," or where I would need none at all?’ 

“ Certainly not, m3' good man ; put on the skin.” 

Mr. Wilcox turned the skin hair-side out, and assisted 
him into it. Being wet so much it had shrunk up. What 
a perfect fit ! with the exception of the arms, a tailor could 
not have done as well. Mr. Buncom wanted to cut the 
head off, but I objected, saying it would keep him warm 
when it got cold again. We cut off the claws for him to 
place his hands and feet through. When thus accoutred, 
his presence startled me, for I constantly mistook him for 
a bear. Once I made a move to get my rifle and thrust 
the muzzle of it in the mouth, which was open, when Mr. 
Anderson said, 44 Captain, we all know what a remarkable 
shot you are without further display of marksmanship.” 

How little I felt! and had I been as small, would have 
crawled into ni} r gun barrel. Jack painted his face in the 
most fastidious st} T le of his tribe, when on the war path. 
He gave several war-hoops and brandished a hatchet in the 
air. He was getting blood-thirsty. I told him if he made 
any more such hostile movements that he would be placed 
on short rations. He buried his tomahawk, the hatchet, 
beneath Mr. Buncom’s cast-off clothes, and agreed to smoke 
the pipe of peace with Mr. Anderson, my substitute, at the 
council of war. Lib shaved his skull with Mr. Sanborn’s 
razor, cutting the scalp a little in several places. The Es- 
quimau drank a quart of whale oil to please the inner man. 
He always thought more of pleasing this individual than 
the outer one. 

I looked upon this dressing up as nimbiferous though 
the barometer indicated fair weather. Somehow I could 
not account for the dispkiy of finery. 

Said I, to Mr. Sanborn, 44 What means all this ? ” 

44 Why it am de Lord’s day.” 

The thought of it being the Sabbath never once occurred 
to me. Somehow or other I had lost track of the days 
Sunday or Monday was all the same to us, as in some 
mining camps. 

Mr. Buncom sat in the stern with rudder in one hand. 


Land Sighted . 


Ill 


the wind being light the craft did not need much steering, 
and Testament in the other. I saw the glare of his spec- 
tacles through the eye-holes of the skin, and it sort of 
startled me. I would have told him to come out of that 
bear-skin had he had anything else to wear. Mr. Levy, 
still in the bow, was looking over Mr. Bun corn’s and my 
cast-off: clothes. He took up my coat, examined it, shook 
his head doubtfully, and muttered to himself, “Now, Mr. 
Solomon Levy, you have a difficult problem to solve, how 
is a third-class coat to be made into a first-class one ? 
How much would you make in repairing this coat ? ” He 
examined Mr. Buncom’s, which was the same quality of 
goods as mine. He began ripping it apart and cutting out 
the scorched places. On working several hours with the 
aptitude of an experienced tailor, he held before me my coat 
and vest — rather a coat and vest made from Mr. Buncom’s 
and mine. Said he, “ I am Solomon Levy, the great 
clothier, my goods are nonpareil in every respect, try on 
this vest and coat, perfect fit guaranteed or no sales.” 

“ What is the price of these articles ? ” inquired I, ex- 
amining them closely, and agreeably surprised at the excel- 
lent manner they were gotten up in. 

“ I will sell cheap — one hundred dollars.” 

“ You are exorbitant in your price.” 

“Well, I will take ninety dollars, not a cent less. Mr. 
Solomon Levy is a Jew who will not stand jewing down 
for he is an honest Jew.” 

“ I tried on the coat and vest and found them a perfect 
fit. I took out my wallet, which was very flabby, on ac- 
count of being so nearly empty, and gave him a twenty 
dollar gold coin. He took the coin in the palm of his 
right hand, placed it over his heart, shut his eyes, and 
moved his lips. By his attitude I concluded he was at 
prayer — praying to Mammon who has, since civilization 
elevated mankind, drawn our eyes from gazing heaven- 
ward, and turned them upon the Golden Calf which this 
God has set up. After his prayer was ended, Mr. Levy 
smiled and said, “ Captain, you have not paid me in full ; 
as I have some heavy payments to make at once, would 
you pay me the balance ? ” 

“ Mr. Levy, how did you come by the material of which 
these articles are made ? ” 


112 


Captain Kiddle . 

“ Oh,” replied he, bringing his hands together and laugh- 
ingone of his coin-chin king-like laughs, “ I picked it up — 
■just as I have often done from the back streets of San 
Francisco, and several other large cities, when a person 
imagines a lamp-post his adversary, and doffs his coat and 
vest to meet his antagonist.” 

“ Then, in plain words, you mean to say you have taken 
the coat and vest of some poor drunken man? ” 

“ My friend, they were cast-off clothes.” 

“ Well, Mr. Levy, I must charge you seventy dollars for 
the material.” 

“ What, Captain ! do you mean to rob an honest man ? ” 

“ I have said just what I mean.” 

With a dejected looking countenance Mr. Levy remarked 
to himself : “ Well, I will stand jewing down, after all.” 

He opened his money-bag and emptied its contents upon 
a piece of sail cloth. On dropping the coin, one by one, 
back into the bag he had a name for each. I remember 
only a few of the names, and some were thus : “My soul’s 
delight, eternal happiness, my pride, my joy, my bliss, 
and my comforter.” 

I stepped upon a seat, stretched up my arms, for I was 
proud of my purchase, and said, “ How good clothes do 
augment a person’s good looks.” 

“ Then, how do I look ? ” inquired Mr. Buncom, who 
had just finished reading a chapter in his Testament. 

“ Like a bear,” replied I, thoughtlessly. 

“ I thought so,” remarked he, despondently. 

On remaining silent a few moments, continued he, “ Cap- 
tain, I am sure land cannot be far away.” 

“ What makes you think so ? ” 

“ Do you see that? ” pointing out a small green bough 
drifting just astern. 

“ That indicates land, somewhere, though it may be as 
remote as home. Before Columbus discovered America, 
branches of exotic trees were found, cast ashore upon the 
Azore Islands, having come all the way from America.” 

He gazed northerly by east and shouted, “ Land ! ” 

Then he stood up and laughed, sounding to me like the 
growl of a bear. On taking up my field-glass, I looked in 
the direction he pointed, and sure enough, a great white 
object lay before us, which I first took to be an iceberg. 


Land Sighted. 


113 


44 It must be ice,” said I, dubiously. 

44 Did I not see land?” came a voice from the bear-skin, 
and with one hand pointing skyward, he continued, 44 If 
your glass reveals nothing, it was a mirage I saw. Let me 
take the glass.” 

I helped him place it through the eye-holes of the skin, 
and on gazing a moment, he shouted, 44 Land ! ” 


8 



114 


Captain Kiddle 


CHAPTER XIII. 

KIDDLE ISLAND AND INHABITANTS. 

44 What is all this fuss and shouting about? ” inquired 
Mr. Anderson rising from his couch, a blanket spread out 
pretty close to the bow, where he had been napping for the 
past two hours. 

44 About land,” replied Mr. Buncom. 

44 What land ? ” 

44 We have discovered land.” 

44 And I expect we all shall before we are done with 
this cruising. The land I have reference to, if such it can 
be considered, is the ocean bed, I do not believe my own 
eyes any more. When T saw the coruscations of that 
monster's eyes, I thought surely it was a ship and that we 
were saved.” 

Around us came immense flocks of ducks and geese. I 
took up the shot-gun but did not discharge it for fear of 
missing them. Mr. Anderson tested the gun over the bow 
and fired, killing four geese. I saw the leg of one floating 
along, from which I judged he had also wounded one. Lib 
began picking them. I ordered him to save the feathers, 
as I was in great need of a pillow. My pillow was a hard 
one : my medicine chest turned upon its side. I looked 
through my glass again — what a gladsome sight met my 
eyes ! Before us rose a lofty snow-clad mountain which 
seemed to rest upon the waves, as the level land was not 
in sight yet. Glittering, coruscating like an iceberg, it rose 
majestically in the serene air. Upon it the sun seemed to 
smile, instead of frowning as old Sol appeared to do upon 
the icebergs and floes. Green, dendriform objects were 
now observed on its precipitous side. I shouted with joy 
and so did Mr. Buncom, though his shouts were as his 
laughter, like the growl of a bear. We were wild with 
joy. Lib let a goose, the best one of course, fall over- 
board. No sooner had it struck water than a fish with 


Kiddle Island and Inhabitants. 115 

mouth open wide as the brim of the bucket, portion of our 
stove, grabbed it and disappeared. The fish was the first 
to sample our delicacies. 1 ordered Jack to watch Lib, 
fearing he might let another one drop in the same manner. 
Jack stood over him with uplifted hatchet, and warned 
him not to stir, for he was liable to get his skull cracked. 
This frightened Lib who dared not move to pluck a single 
feather. I dismissed Jack, and Mr. Buncom held a goose 
by the legs while Lib plucked the feathers. Two hours 
afterwards, elated beyond measure at the sight of land, we 
sat down to a meal of boiled geese, bear-meat, roast fish, 
and coffee “straight,” as some call it, that is, coffee 
without milk or sugar. We enjoyed this repast better 
than any since our banquet. The mountain now loomed 
up grandly before us. We could see below the line of 
snow, claiming one-third the height of the mountain. Hard 
up against this line, forests extended. The mark between 
these zones was as distinct as if old Jack Frost had cleared 
a broad way, marking the boundary of his lofty possessions. 
On a low wind fragrant with the perfume of flowers, as if 
coming from the Land of Flowers, we thought we heard 
the roar of a cataract, and afterwards found that our ears 
did not deceive us. Strange birds of song were in the air, 
singing anthems of welcome. Perhaps they had wit- 
nessed some of our sufferings and were helping us rejoice 
that they were over. We shouted, sang, and jumped about 
like so many lunatics. Mr. Wilcox, the most boisterous, 
stood upon the prow, shouted, and sang himself hoarse. 
Jack observed him with drawn countenance, and sat un- 
moved. 

Said I, “ Jack, we are safe now. Pretty soon we will 
land.” 

“ Maybe so, and maybe not,” was his reply. 

At length Mr. Wilcox fell overboard, and when picked 
up his enthusiasm was somewhat cooled. Mr. Levy mani- 
fested considerable joy despite he was busily scheming as 
to how he might increase his heap of coin. The land was 
now plain enough for me to roughly define its geography. 
I saw that it was an island with a range of high mountains 
extending across it from east to west. Horseshoe-shaped, 
with heel of the shoe pointing south, was a lovely valley, 
of about twenty miles wide and forty long, extending back 


116 


Captain Kiddle. 

against high hills. This valley may be larger or smaller 
than the dimensions I just mentioned, but during my resi- 
dence on the island, I never changed my opinion concern- 
ing it. On both sides the valley are rolling foot-hills of 
the mountain range. Those to the right are heavily tim- 
bered, while on the other hand comparatively bare, covered 
with masses of loose rock. The island is nearly round, a 
little longer from east to west. In this direction it is about 
one hundred and sixty miles. From north to south one 
hundred and fifty-five miles. I wondered if the island was 
inhabited. Truly, such a fertile land as I saw it to be, 
was never created to be tenanted with naught except wild 
beasts and fowl. Man, the nomadic biped, has taken up 
his quarters and thrives where even wild beasts shrink from. 

“ What is that?” inquired Mr. Buncom, pointing down 
the beach, where stood some objects resembling pins of a 
bowling alley. 

“ I can see nothing,” replied I. 

He pointed again. I examined the objects in question 
with my field-glass, and found them to be men, women, 
and a child or two. They looked large as giants. 

“ Captain, you are excited,” said Mr. Buncom, on taking 
the glass and examining the objects also. “ They are 
giants, and almost naked at that.” 

“ Captain, where shall we land,” inquired Mr. Anderson, 
at the helm. 

“Down by that white spot,” replied I, pointing out a 
mass of white beach sand piled high by the waves. 

Presently we came within hailing distance. 

“ Halloo ! ” shouted Mr. Buncom, who had the strongest 
voice among us, “ Who are you ? ” 

No reply ; he repeated the interrogation, and still no 
answer. Mr. Anderson, after an oath or two, shouted the 
same in Swede and Norwegian and failed to receive a reply. 
Mr. Levy shouted in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, and the 
effect was the same. The Mexican, quite a linguist, 
shouted the same in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, 
and Yacqui Indian, but no reply. Mr. Morrisey, a Cana- 
dian, shouted it also in French and various other dialects 
of the Canadians. The result was the same. Mr. Wilcox, 
a student of the German language, shouted in German and 
Dutch. J ack shouted in his natal tongue, also in Shoshona ; 


Kiddle Island and Inhabitants . 


117 


Washoe, Bannack, Digger and Apache. Then Lib began, 
and I do not believe he understood one-half he said. Lastly 
the Esquimau shouted and received for reply “ Fudycrau,” 
which, translated, means “ had man.” I threw the blanket 
over my shoulders and stepped in the bow, where stood Mr. 
Levy, whom I ordered back to the oar. I hoisted the stars 
and stripes upon an oar. The noble flag ! torn and stained 
with salt water, smeared with oil and with two stars burnt 
out by a coal falling upon it. I declared that these miss- 
ing stars represented North and South Carolina, as I 
have no love for these two Svates. 

“Men,” said I, holding aloft the flag, “as we are enter- 
ing a foreign port, fire a salute.” 

This was promptly done. On hearing the report, the 
savages fled from the beach. It seems strange that we 
should have dressed up on this particular day, for strangers 
to receive us. 

Said Mr. Sanborn, “ Cap’n, a little music now.” 

On taking up his banjo, he began playing and singing 
thus : 


“ Long we liab been on de ocean, 

Gliding de waters o’er: 

An’ now before us is Ian’ 

Dat we neber saw bei'or’. 

CHORUS. 

“ O good chil’ren do not fear, 

De Lord am wib us 
On dis water here. 

lt De lan’ am green and fertile, 

It am a lubly isle; 

Shaped like de back ob a turtle 
My ole fodder killed and biled. 

CHORUS. 

“ De pe’ple da am strange, 

Da hab a savage look; 

But I know de Lord lub’s dem, 

Just as I do de holy Book.” 

On reaching the landing place, I was much surprised to 
see, just below it, part of a stone wharf. Few stones yet 
remained in their proper position the remainder had fallen 
in .the water and by the ebbing of the out-going tide I saw 


118 Captain Kiddle. 

they were almost entirely worn away by the action of the 
incessant waves. 

Said I to Mr. Buncom, “ I think this will prove an inter- 
esting place, and no doubt a valuable spot for antiquarian 
research. There has been a more intelligent race here than 
those savages, that is, what little I have seen of them. 
There may be treasures buried here worth millions of dollars 
and — 

“ Captain, do you really think so ? ” interrupted Mr. Lev}’'. 

44 Yes, Mr. Levy,” replied I, to augment his zeal in the 
getting of gold. “ This may be the land where that wise 
king whose name is your given name, obtained his gold.” 

44 Do you really think this may be the Ophir spoken of in 
the Old Testament ? ” 

44 It is just as liable to be here as in Europe, Asia, Africa, 
or America.” 

44 Those mines would satisfy me ; let us begin searching 
for them.” 

He came to the bow and almost pushed me overboard in 
his eagerness to land. Thinking, undoubtedly, that the 
water was shallow, he stepped out the boat and went out of 
sight. Mr. Buncom cast him a rope, and while being pulled 
in, the prow touched land. 

44 Thank God, we are upon terra-firma once more,” said I, 
on stepping ashore. 

Mr. Levy, as soon as pulled in, ran the length of the boat, 
knocked down Mr. Anderson by colliding with him, sprang 
-ashore, and shouted, “ This is my land ! I claim it in the 
name of Solomon Levy, its discoverer.” 

The men, except Mr. Anderson, stepped ashore. 

44 Men,” said I, “ I claim this land in the name of the Presi- 
dent of the United States, and do hereby annex it to Ameri- 
can soil. What shall we call it ? ” 

44 In honor of its discoverer, let it be known as Kiddle Isl- 
and,” said Mr. Buncom. 

“Let it be called Levy’s Land,” said the Jew. 

44 Men,” continued I, “ shall it be named Kiddle Island, 
or Levy’s Land?” 

M Kiddle Island ! ” came the response from all except Mr. 
Levy, who shouted, “ It is unfair.” 

“ Shut your mouth and get your money,” said Mr. Ander- 
son, giving the money bag a toss. It feliat the water’s edge 
where there was a muddy spot. 


Kiddle Island and Inhabitants. 


119 


Mr. Levy began counting his coins, fearing some of them 
might have escaped through a small hole in the bag. 

“ Men,” said I, “ fire a salute and give three cheers in 
honor of this new-discovered land.” 

It was done accordingly. On pulling the boat a short 
way upon the beach we began making preparations for a 
camping place. Presently we saw the natives coming, and 
went out to meet them, armed with such arms as we had. 
At the head of my men, two abreast, beneath the gonfa- 
non I love so well, was myself. Behind me was Mr. San- 
born, in full dress, supporting an ivory-headed whalebone 
cane, which I never noticed till now, and Mr. Buncom in 
the bear-skin. Over the right shoulder he carried a harpoon. 
Next was Mr. Anderson with my revolvers round his middle 
and my favorite rifle over his shoulder. At his side was 
the third officer, bearing the shot-gun. Behind these two 
were the sailors, armed with Winchesters, Mr. Wilcox hav- 
ing placed the rifle barrels forming part-of our stove upon 
their stocks again. Beside Mr. Wilcox, odd sailor, was the 
carpenter, armed with a cutlass. Mr. Levy, unarmed, was 
encumbered with his money bag, and marched alone ; Jack 
with hatchet in hand walked beside Lib, who was so fright- 
ened as to be hardly able to remain upon his feet. The 
Esquimau was last, armed with his spear. The savages, 
about forty in number, armed with long spears, heavy war 
club, and a large oval shield on the left arm, in single file 
came from their place of concealment, behind some large 
rocks. At the head was their chief, a great raw-boned giant, 
no less than seven feet and ten inches, nude except a breech- 
cloth. His long, coarse hair fell down his back almost to 
the hips. His high cheek-bones, aquiline nose, low, idiotic 
forehead, and small snaky eyes told me he was a hard char- 
acter. He resembled a Patagonian, decidedly. I stopped 
to admire his colossal stature and he paused, marveling, no 
doubt, at my littleness. 

“ Great chief, how are you ? ” inquired I. 

He grunted, stepped forward two steps and made the 
distance between us eight feet less. We were now four 
yards apart. On giving his weapons to a body-guard, six in 
number, with nose flat on the face, he stepped forward 
another step. He pointed to his men and then to himself, 
giving me to understand he was their chief. Stretching 


120 


Captain Kiddle . 

out his arm full length he brought his fist against his breast, 
engendering a noise that sounded like the beating of a 
bass-drum, and roared in a thunder-like tone his name, 
Bahwahgun. He smote his breast again and roared his 
name three times in quick succession. 

Said I, “ How are you, Bahwahgun ? You talk like a 
bad wagon rattles.” On giving the flag to Mr. Sanborn, I 
stepped forward a step the same as himself, pointed to mv 
men and then myself, I rose upon my toes to make myself, 
seem large as possible, smote my breast with both hands 
and exclaimed, “ Captain John Digger Kiddle.” 

The old savage laughed in my face and by signs told me 
I was only knee high to him. On taking back his spear he 
drew a line in the sand with the end of the shaft, and made 
me understand it would be death to go beyond it. While 
making me understand this, his warriors gathered round 
us and leaned upon their spears. One of the warriors 
espied Lib crouohed between Mr. Wilcox and the Jew, 
seized him by the cue, held him out at arm’s length and 
presented him to Bahwahgun, who looked much perplexed. 
At length he took Lib up in the same manner and held 
him out at arm’s length in the left hand, with Lib scream- 
ing at the top of his voice. Suddenly he seized me by the 
coat-collar and held me out in the other hand. A diabol- 
ical grin ran athwart his countenance. After inspecting 
us he set us both upon our feet again. Then he took the 
blanket from my shoulders. On seeing my watch-chain 
hanging from my vest, he snatched it, together with the 
watch. 

“ You old robber,” exclaimed I, raising my cutlass to 
strike a blow ; “ and men, fire.” 

Not one made a move, for a great spear was ready to 
slay. On examining my watch, he could not make out 
where the ticking came from. I made motions for him to 
open it but he could not do so. Presently, he made 
motions for me to open it, which I did. On seeing, a 
power which he deemed witchcraft moving the tiny wheels, 
appalled him ; he gave me back my watch. Mr. Sanborn’s 
silk hat was the next object that came under his scrutiny. 
He removed it and placed it upon his own head, fairly 
elated. He smote his breast and roared “ Bahwahgun ” 
louder than ever. 


Kiddle Island and Inhabitants. 121 

“ Yes,” said I, “ you are indeed a bad wagon, a genuine 
"bandit.” 

I looked at Mr. Sanborn. Poor fellow, he was terribly 
crestfallen and had his eyes cast upon the ground. On 
rolling up his eyes he said, “ Oh Massa, dat ar’ hat ob 
mine.” 

Bahwahgun’s next offence was to strip Mr. Sanborn of 
his clothes and then gave the poor darkey to tie about his 
loins a coarse cloth, coarser than gunny bagging, made 
from a species of grass that grows in low places on this 
island. This humiliated Mr. Sanborn as much as a mon- 
arch stripped of his crown. The old rascal’s feet would 
not go through the pants legs when he tried to don them. 
Nor would his hands go through the coat sleeves. He 
threw the suit toward a warrior, the smallest among them, 
who put on the pants seat in front, vest buttoning behind, 
and the coat he turned wrong side out before putting it 
on. When thus arrayed he nodded at his comrades and 
smiled imperially. Bahwahgun looked at Mr. Buncomfor 
a long time, it seemed to me, though probably not more 
than a minute, concluded he must be a bear, and raised 
his heavy club to deal a death blow. 

“ Stop, O Bahwahgun,” said Mr. Buncom. “ It is I, 
Loran Buncom, harpooner of the ill-fated Boreas, har- 
pooner of thousands of whales, faithful consort of Imp, 
doting sire of Mrs. Daniel Rice, and a roaring Methodist.” 

I was surprised at the precision Mr. Buncom used in de- 
scribing himself, as heretofore he had never been garrulous. 
Bahwahgun hearing a voice coming from the skin was as- 
tonished. 

“ Mr. Buncom,” said I, “ you had better shed your skin, 
for Bahwahgun does not know whether you are man or 
beast.” 

He tried to come forth but could no more do so than a 
snake trying to shed its skin out of shedding season. I 
called to Mr. Sanborn who lay Hat in the sand, face down- 
ward, mourning the loss of his clothes ; he got up and 
pulled off the bear-skin. Bahwahgun on seeing a man of 
such noble physique was agreeably surprised. He pointed 
to Mr. Buncom and then to himself, trying to make him 
understand he was almost as good a man as himself. On 
seeing the crutch, he was at a loss in comprehending its 


122 


Captain Kiddle . 

use. I tried to made him understand it was the substitute 
for a broken leg. At length I made the matter explicit by 
falling upon the sand, getting up and dragging a leg along 
after me. Pointing to Mr. Buncom, he rubbed his right 
eye with his knuckles as if trying to keep back a tear, ex- 
pressing sympathy for him. I saw he was bound to search 
us like a bandit. He stepped before Mr. Morrisey and took 
away his rifle. He examined it, gave it back, expressing 
with a grunt an undecided opinion as to its use. 

Said I to Mr. Morrisey : “ Discharge it in the air.” 

He did so. The report astonished Bahwahgun, who on 
recovering self-control a little smote his breast, and shouted 
his name at the very top of his voice, sounding louder than 
the roar of a lion. He motioned to Mr. Morrisey to dis- 
charge his gun again. Throwing out his chest he drew a 
deep breath and shouted his name the same instant that 
the gun report rang upon the air, louder than his voice. 
He took the gun again and looked down its muzzle shout- 
ing his name into it, as we often shout in a trumpet to the 
ear of a deaf person. He did not molest any more of the 
men carrying firearms. Mr. Anderson, in his fearless way, 
took from his pocket a piece of tobacco of the size that 
retails three for two bits, and said “ Here, old Bahwahgun,. 
take a chew.” 

Bahwahgun, on smelling it, placed it in his mouth and 
began chewing it all at once. He placed his hand gently 
upon Mr. Anderson’s shoulder, and led him a step or two 
forward, where Mr. Buncom and I stood. By this I con- 
cluded that we three were his favorites. Mr. Levy stood 
trembling, with one foot upon his money bag, which he had 
dropped in the sand, and partly covered it up with his 
feet. 

Bahwahgun’s face grew ominous, I saw that he disliked 
the Jew on first sight, as we often do an individual, though 
he may prove a leal friend. 

Mr. Levy trembled more violently, and shouted “ My 
money, oh, my money ! ” 

Bahwahgun on shouting his name seized Mr. Levy by the 
arm and flung him in midst the warriors. He picked up 
the money bag, gave it to me, and I untied it to show the 
contents. On seeing the coin he smiled and pointed to 
the mountains ahead. He made motions by which I un- 


Kiddle Island and Inhabitants. 12 S 

derstood there was an abundance of the precious metals 
there. I extended the bag but he motioned for me to 
keep it. 

Mr. Anderson spoke, saying, “ Captain, old Bahwahgun ” 
(this was what he alwa} r s called him both at his face and 
back. Mr. Anderson was not a man to Mr. you at your 
face and at your back put a mean adjective before vour 
name), 44 must not know the value of gold and silver, or 
this place is so full of it that it is hardly worth picking up.’* 

“ I attribute it to his ignorance of the value of these 
metals.” 

Mr. Levy having crawled from among the warriors, as- 
sisted by a few slight prods from their spears, began shout- 
ing for his money. 

44 1 have it ; come and get it.” 

Bahwahgun stopped him, standing in front of him with 
uplifted club, ready to end him. 

44 My money!” wailed Mr. Levy. 

44 What is the matter, anyhow ? ” 

44 1 want my money.” 

He attempted to press forward, but Bahwahgun hindered 
him. 

Mr. Levy looked up in the grim old savage’s face and 
said, 44 Give me my money, or give me death.” 

At this demand I smiled, not over Mr. Levy’s wretched- 
ness, but this theme carried me back to my boyhood days 
— when a school-boy — when I used to read from my reader 
the celebrated speech of Patrick Henry, in which he said, 
44 Give me liberty, or give me death.” I think that the love 
of Liberty, which so enthused our forefathers, has . some- 
what died out of our hearts, and the love of wealth has 
taken root. I think that we Americans, as a rule, can ex- 
claim with sincerity of soul, like Mr. Levy — Give me 
money, or give me death. When Bahwahgun inspected 
Jack, he ogled him a moment and motioned him to stand 
to our right, but he would not move. Bahwahgun gave 
him a violent push which sent him flying head over heels 
in the sand. With a war-whoop Jack jumped up and 
rushed at Bahwahgun with uplifted hatchet. The chief 
caught the hatchet and snatched it from his grasp. Though 
disarmed Jack tried to renew the combat by getting hold 
of Mr. Westman’s cutlass. 


124 Captain Kiddle. 

“Jack, stop! ” I shouted. “ If you are not careful you 
will lose your life.” 

Replied he, with the same indifference, “ Maybe so, and 
maybe not.” 

Bahwahgun glanced at the Esquimau contemptuously, 
turned round, and came to me. On pointing toward the 
mountains, he made motions by which I understood we 
were to go thence shortly. Then he went through our 
effects, with the exception of my medicine chest. I was 
glad he did not, for he might have destroyed its contents. 
Espying Mr. Sanborn’s razor, he opened it and drew his 
thumb across the keen edge, cutting it to the bone. With 
a howl he cast the razor in the sea. The bright blade 
flashed through the air as I had seen it do when Mr. San- 
born stopped it, after the manner of a tonsorial artist. 
Bahwahgun held his thumb in the palm of his right hand 
and blood trickled from between the fingers. I opened 
my medicine chest, and motioned him to come. He did so. 
I applied a salve, and bound it up. He was well pleased 
with my rude ^Esculapian skill. He called a warrior 
before him, who laid aside his arms. With a swing of his 
powerful arm that would have vanquished John L. Sullivan, 
he brought his sledgehammer-like fist against the subject’s 
nose, knocking him over Mr. Anderson’s head about the 
height of the length of a rifle. A stream of blood gushed 
from the victim’s nose, smashed flat to the face, in which 
the chief wet a bluish stone and made this mark on my 
forehead — a mark of great honor. When the victim rose 
to his feet, he was admitted to the body-guard. About 
this time I began feeling hungry, and not knowing when I 
might get another meal — that is, should I live to get hungry 
again — I mentioned the matter to Mr. Anderson, who 
gathered up some driftwood, plenty of it strewing the 
beach, and started a fire. I ordered Lib, who stood at my 
side leaning on my arm for support, as he was nearly 
frightened to death, to cook, good as circumstances would 
permit — do his very best, that he might win Bahwahgun’s 
good will. This nerved him a little, and he began prepar- 
ing a meal. I motioned to Bahwahgun, to find out if his 
warriors were to dine also. He shook his head in the 
negative. I was very glad, for we had not half enough 
provisions to go around. I ordered Lib to cook double the 


Kiddle Island and Inhabitants. 125 

amount we consumed on full rations, for I was sure our 
distinguished guest would eat as much as the whole of us 
put together. My calculations proved correct. Just after 
Mr. Anderson started the fire, he saw a large flock of 
geese feeding up the beach, about one hundred yards away. 
He took the shotgun and crawled toward them. Presently 
I heard him discharge both barrels, and he returned, bring- 
ing twelve large, fat fowl — one goose and eleven ganders. 
Bahwahgun now looked upon Mr. Anderson as a magician. 
He immediately inscribed upon his forehead with the 
bluish stone the same sort of mark as he did upon my own. 

“ Good for you, old boy,” said I to Mr. Anderson, as he 
stood grinning with the last quid of tobacco between his 
jaws. u If there is anything soft in the future, we will be 
sure to enjoy it.” 

Mr. Buncom assisted Lib in dressing the fowls, which 
were baked in the sand heated by the fire. When ready to 
dine, Jack and the Esquimau came to take their accus- 
tomed place, but Bahwahgun motioned them to keep away. 

“ Old Bahwahgun is very high-toned,” said Mr. Ander- 
son. u Once, while working for a certain rancher in Cali- 
fornia, I had to sit at the same table with Chinese and 
Indians.” 

Lib placed some fowl one side for Jack and the Esqui- 
mau. Jack would not touch it, for his dignity was hurt in 
not being permitted to eat at the first table. Before Bah- 
wahgun lay six fowls, the largest ones, three large fish, ten 
pounds of bear meat, and five gallons of coffee stood in a 
bucket. When our distinguished guest began the repast, 
I noticed that instead of picking the bones, he devoured 
them; his jaws came together like those of a steel trap. 
He ground the bones fine as quartz is crushed beneath 
the stamps of a battery. The six fowl disappeared while 
I was stripping the leg of one, and next went the fish. The 
bucket of coffee was half drained at two gulps. Then he 
gulped down the bear-meat in such large hunks that I feared 
it would choke him to death. He drank the remainder of 
the coffee, and leaned back against our boat, by which he 
sat. He smiled good-humoredly while we finished our 
meal. Lib, in the meantime, sat by the fire, eating from 
the bucket the bear-meat was cooked in. After we finished 
dining, Bahwahgun rose and stepped toward Lib, who 


126 Captain Kiddle . 

thrust his head in the bucket he was eating from and 
began to howl. 

“Lib, stand up,” said I, “ Bahwahgun wants to confer 
a favor on you for your excellent cooking.” 

I had to hold up the frightened Mongolian, who kept 
his hands over his cue fearing he would lose it. Bahwah- 
gun made a hideous looking mark on his forehead, extend- 
ing from the eyebrows to the top of the head, high up as 
the hair was shaved off. When the ceremony was over, 
Mr. Wilcox spoke, saying, “ By George, I had rather have 
that brand on me than bear the Victoria Cross ! ” 

Mr. Morrisey, a little gone on the Golden Rose ques- 
tion, spoke thus : “ I’ll be hanged if that don’t beat the 
Golden Rose from the Pope ! ” 

Bahwahgun spoke to his warriors. They came and de- 
voured the remnants of our meal, struggling and fighting 
over it like so many half-starved swine. Bones of the 
fowl trampled in the sand they devoured, sand and all. 
They resembled so many devils instead of human beings. 
They would have devoured our entire supplies had Bah- 
wahgun permitted them to do so. It was all he could do 
to keep them back, and one in particular, whom he struck 
over the head with his club. I saw the victim drop, and 
started toward where he lay to see if my iEsculapian ser- 
vices were needed ; but Bahwahgun motioned me back. 
At length the victim got upon his feet with blood dripping 
from the end of his long hair. 


Slavery. 


12T 


CHAPTER XIY. 

SLAVERY. 

The object of Bahwahgun’s visit to the beach as I 
learned erstwhile, was to ascertain whether his enemy, 
of whom I will speak anon, had come to attack him. The 
enemy were liable to come at this particular time of the 
3 r ear* as winds were favorable. We walked down the 
beach, except Mr. Westman and Jackson, who rowed the 
boat along. After going about one-fourth of a mile, we 
came upon six canoes that lay, bottom up, on the beach. 
Bahwahgun ordered my men, those that had not received 
the mark on the forehead, which I call the Purple X., to 
pick up the canoes and carry them. Among the unfortu- 
nate, wag Mr. Buncom, who, at my solicitations, was eman- 
cipated by receiving a Purple X. Now, for the first time, 
I saw we were enslaved ; and to make the matter more 
odious, our master was a savage. Mr. Sanborn, with the 
alacrity his race is noted for, in circumstances like ours, 
was the first to enter upon our new epoch. He took up 
one end of the bow of a canoe and asked Mr. Levy for 
assistance. 

The Jew, instead of obeying said, “ Before Mr. Solomon 
Levy begins a job he wants to be positive there is money 
in it. As he does not see anything in this job, thinks he 
will not undertake it.” 

“ Mr. Levy,” said I, “ you had better assist Mr. Sanborn. 
I have your coin, and will keep it for you till your good 
conduct wins the Purple X., then you like myself, will be 
your own master. We will explore those mountains. If 
Bahwahgun’s signs are correct, we will certainly find some- 
thing that will abundantly reward us for all our hardships.” 

“ I will do so,” replied Mr. Levy. 

He and the carpenter took up the stern and went on. 
Mr. Wilcox, Jackson, and Morrisey did likewise with the 
next canoe, Jack was ordered to assist Mr. Harry and 
Westman in carrying the next one. I could not persuade 


128 Captain Kiddle. 

him to do so, and asked his reasons to which he replied, 
“ Heap tired.” 

I knew better than that, for he had not exerted himself 
in the least since our descent from the iceberg, and then all 
he had done was to slide down the rope. 

“ Jack, you now have a severe master who will not let 
you loaf as I have done, and if you disobey he will certainly 
kill you.” 

“ Maybe so, and maybe not,” was his reply, which had 
now become chronic with him. 

Bahwahgun pointed out the canoe, and Jack ignored him 
altogether. At length Bahwahgun pushed him up to the 
canoe and tried to make him take it up, but his obstinacy 
predominated over the fear of death. Bahwahgun, on 
seeing that his efforts were fruitless, spoke to a warrior, who 
bound Jack’s hands behind him, threw him on his back, 
tied a rope made of grass, round his ankles, and began 
dragging him along. Sometimes he was face downwards, 
then face upwards, and then on his side. Those of us 
having the Purple X went on with the first and second 
canoe. On ascending a mild declivity we came to a very 
clear stream flowing from the mountains. I named this 
stream Anderson River. When our boat was carried over, 
it took all hands ; and on getting over the remainder of the 
canoes we embarked. Our boat was ahead, in which were 
all hands except Jack, who was in the second canoe. 
In Jack’s stead was Bahwahgun, who sat in silence at the 
bow, probably meditating upon what he intended to do 
with us. The current was hardly perceptible and we made 
good progress. On both banks were fertile meadows sus- 
taining a heavy growth of grass, tall as my head — grass 
need not be very tall to reach that high. I wondered why 
we transported our boats instead of following the beach 
to the stream’s mouth, and thus ascend. I looked round 
and saw that after passing the point at which we embarked, 
the river ran parallel with the beach for several miles — as 
far as I could trace it. A flock of geese was just ahead of 
us. Bahwahgun turned partly round, placed his club in 
the same position as he had seen Mr. Anderson the gun in 
taking aim, and motioned for him to shoot. Mr. Anderson 
took up the shot gun and motioned for Bahwahgun to step 
back, which he did, and then discharged both barrels. I 


Slavery. 129 

counted fifteen dead and five wounded ones. A wounded 
one with a broken wing swam up alongside our boat. I 
took out one of my revolvers (Mr. Anderson having re- 
turned them' on seeing lie was not likely to need them 
against the savages) and aimed at its head, but did not fire. 
I waited till it opened its mouth to quack. I thrust the 
muzzle in its mouth, fired, and carried away its entire head. 
Bahwahgun seeing this marvelous display of marksmanship, 
shouted something in his nasal tongue, which, if trans- 
lated, undoubtedly would be, Bravo! Well done! The 
fowl, unaccustomed to firearms flew but a little way, and 
lit in short range. 

Our boat erstwhile was loaded down with ducks and 
geese, and so was the first canoe. Every canoe could have 
been loaded down. I looked upon the affair as wanton 
slaughter, but changed my opinion on arriving at our des- 
tination, seeing the numbers there were to eat them. On 
ascending the river about ten miles, we came to an abrupt 
bend. Before us lay an artificial channel ; that is, I conclud- 
ed it was such, for I saw fragments of a stone wall form- 
ing a portion of the bank, first on one hand and then on the 
other. This channel was about two miles long. In pass- 
ing up it we encountered a rapid current, making our 
headway slow and laborious. The canoes did not reach 
us till an hour after we had passed through it. The sav- 
ages were so indolent that it is strange how they overcame 
the current. While waiting for the residue of our fleet, 
I saw that this canal was cut across a neck of land round 
which the river originally flowed in the shape of a mule 
shoe, thus shortening the distance fully twenty miles. 
“ Who excavated this canal, and for what purpose?” I 
asked myself. 

Certainly these savages could not have done it, for they 
were almost too indolent to use it at all. A pre-historic 
race, no doubt, excavated and used it for commercial pur- 
poses, was the conclusion I came to. Across the old chan- 
nel, just below the new one, I saw a great stone dam filled 
in behind for about ninety yards with earth. The stones 
under water had not crumbled away much, nor had those 
above, but those at water level were quite decomposed. 
We were in the old channel again, which we ascended in 
the neighborhood of three miles, when we came to a small 


130 Captain Kiddle . 

cataract. I say small , though it was about fifty feet high, 
and round it was another canal. The current being so 
strong, we could not ascend it with our oars. We disem- 
barked, with the exception of Bahwahgun, and dragged 
our boat up with a rope. On getting our boat up, we sat 
down to rest. Those not having the Purple X were or- 
dered back, whence a great deal of jabbering came. My 
men had to drag up every canoe, while the great, lazy 
savages lay in the shade of a tall tree laughing at them 
working with all their might. I was much provoked, and 
had I been one of the unfortunates, am almost inclined to 
think I should have done the same as Jack. Next to Bah- 
wahgun in authority over the unfortunates was Mr. Levy, 
with his tyranny augmented after having laid dormant since 
we were frozen in. The men declared him a harder master 
than Bahwahgun himself. After the last canoe was 
drawn up, we proceeded on again. The stream was quite 
rapid, and continued to grow more rapid each yard we ad- 
vanced. Presently Bahwahgun motioned us over to the 
right hand bank (we were hard against the left), whence 
he pointed, I saw a pile of stone wet with spray — here the 
river dashed down a series of rapids. We landed and I 
wondered how we were going to get round them. Bahwah- 
gun motioned for the boats to be unloaded. By this time 
I saw that this was the end of the navigable part of the 
river. Through the rank grass I saw a path, perfectly 
straight, running almost parallel with the river. I stepped 
into the path and found it solid. On examination, I 
saw it was paved with stone not unlike the streets of 
some of our cities. Up between the paving stone, this 
species of rank grass grew. The canoes came up, and after 
much gesticulation and jabbering, they were pulled out 
upon the bank and turned bottom up. The grass protected 
them from the sun. Our boat was dragged up into the 
grass and turned up also. Now came the 44 tug of war,” as 
it is often termed — the transportation of our effects and 
game. Bahwahgun placed almost a donkey load on my 
men, and Mr. Levy insisted on their bearing a mule load. 
While he was trying to increase their burden, Bahwahgun 
placed over two hundred pounds of game in a heap and 
motioned that it was his burden. 

The Jew looked at it and said, 44 Does that old savage 
think Mr. Solomon Levy is a b$ast of burden ? ” 


Slavery. 


131 


“ That is what you think we are,” remarked Mr. Han- 
nah, staggering beneath his burden. 

If under any other circumstances, I would have pitied 
Mr. Levy, and carried a portion of his burden, for it nearly 
broke him down. He, like the rest of us who never have 
borne a burden, knows not its weight till resting upon his 
own shoulders. The Esquimau was detailed to drag 
Jack along. I told Jack he had better get up and walk, 
for he looked like a swine drawn to market with a rope 
round its hind leg, and he obeyed. The savages had no 
burdens at all except their weapons, and walked behind, 
pricking up with the points of their spears the fagging bur- 
den-bearers, among whom was Mr. Levy. The path grew 
wider, and after two hours’ travel, we saw in the distance 
a stone wall, and on reaching it we halted for a rest. The 
wall was of granite, with a two-foot layer of marble on top. 
It was thirty feet high and of that number of feet at the 
bottom, and at the top twenty feet wide. The wall was 
perfectly straight, extending up to the mountains. On 
each side the wall, over its mossy bed gushed a brook. As 
I stood admiring this wonderful display of labor, Bahwah- 
gun on top the wall motioned for me to come up also. At 
first I wondered how I was going to get up. On going to 
one side, the right hand, I think, I saw a broad stairway 
leading thence. I ascended and beheld another stairway 
on the other side. The land on each side the wall was 
more suitable for agricultural purposes than grazing ; grass 
much shorter; here and there clumps of gigantic trees 
dotted the valley. As we passed along the top of the wall, 
I noticed several grass-grown mounds on each side, a few 
of them showing fragments of granite and bits of pottery. 
By this I decided they must be ruins of dwelling houses. 
Perchance here stood capacious buildings, homes of many 
a happy family. Round the door children gathered and 
sang their little songs of glee. At the hearth, when the 
hours of labor were ended, assembled the happy family, 
enjoying to the fullest degree the pleasures of home. 
Long rows of such mounds were at the left, which I took 
to be the ruins of a city. I pointed them out to Bahwah- 
gun and the only satisfaction he gave me was to point to 
his mouth and grunt. On doing this he spoke to his war- 
riors, and motioned me to take my men to a cluster of 


182 Captain Kiddle. 

large trees to the right, about four hundred yards from 
the wall. 

“ How are we to get down? ” I inquired of Mr. Ander- 
son, who was ahead several paces. 

“ Captain, do you see those ? ” replied he, pointing out 
steps just in front of himself. 

We descended them, and on reaching the trees, our 
camping place, stretched ourselves out for a short nap. Lib 
picked up some small branches, the ground was covered 
with both large and small ones, started a fire, and cooked 
supper while we napped. In the meantime Bahwahgui; 
led his warriors to another cluster of trees, close at hand, 
about thirty yards to the right. Presently he came in our 
midst, opened his mouth, in which I longed to thrust the 
muzzle of my rifle, placed therein the fingers of his left 
hand, and roared “Bahwahgun” in a hollow voice. I 
knew what meant he, and ordered Lib to cook him twelve 
fowls, the largest he could select from a superabundant 
supply, ten pounds of bear meat, fry six fishes, and also 
boil a five gallon bucket of coffee. Mr. Anderson, Bun- 
com, and myself were assistant cooks in the preparation of 
our guest’s repast. In one hour’s time our distinguished 
guest as well as ourselves attended the wants of the inner 
man. Mr. Levy, so fagged out, did not count his money, 
which I restored to him after supper ; he dropped off to 
sleep with the bag in his arms. Shortly after supper we all 
— my crew and myself — lay down together, and slept the 
sleep of the weary. I was awakened by Bahwahgun beat- 
ing his chest and shouting his name. He would, I think, 
have made an excellent foghorn, for his voice resembled 
one minutely. I could see Jack nowhere about, and soon 
learned he had departed in our slumber, taking a Winches- 
ter rifle, the Esquimau’s spear and Bahwahgun’s sandals. 
He and his warriors wore sandals instead of moccasins like 
our own savages. Bahwahgun was enraged on discovering 
his loss. He took up his spear and war club, and started 
in pursuit of the fugitive. He had not gone far before 
cutting his foot on a sharp stone. I was summoned to dress 
the Wound — quite a deep cut in the hollow of the foot. 
The wound was painful, according to his groans and deep- 
est bass shouts. He limped back and ordered his warriors 
out, with the exception of ten to watch us, for he thought 


Slavery. 183 

we might be inclined to run away also. It took half a day 
to discover Jack’s tracks, for he had covered them carefully. 
A white man could never have discovered them. I saw 
the warriors depart in a southeasterly direction, and pres- 
ently they disappeared in the tall grass. I hoped that 
Jack might escape, for if caught I was sure it meant death 
— and a horrible one too. I cared not if the pursuers were 
gone for a whole week, for their absence meant rest for us. 
At length I concluded to take a nap, which was a dream- 
less one. Mr. Sanborn, humiliated at the loss of his clothes, 
with only a coarse cloth about his loins to palliate his 
nakedness, continued to lament. His lamentation, Bah- 
wahgun’s groans, and the sighing of a soughing wind made 
me melancholy. Mr. Levy, on counting his money, also 
took a nap. Mr. Anderson paced back and forth beneath 
the trees with the diligence of a sentry, smoking his old 
briar-root, now and then uttering a round oath. In the 
serene air, high above us, I saw several large black birds 
soaring majestically. Round and round they circled grad- 
ually contracting the circle. I noticed that the savages 
got beneath the branches of the trees sheltering them, and 
poised their weapons. They shouted to Bahwahgun, and 
he stopped groaning. I wished they had shouted hours 
before, providing it would have had the same effect. He 
crawled along on his hands and knees close up to the body 
of a tree, and motioned for us to seek a similar place of 
safety. I could see no danger at all and wondered what 
was going to happen. The next moment I heard some- 
thing coming from above, which sounded like the descent 
of a meteor. Down dropped the object, knocking off a 
small branch which just missed striking me on the head. 
On recovering from the little fright the falling bough gave 
me, I beheld before me, hardly two yards away, a gigantic 
bird of prey — black as night in Hades, fully ten feet tall, 
with a hooked bill like that of an eagle, and with talons 
that almost took away my breath. Before me stood a 
fudyick, the most ravenous, fearless bird of prey known. 
Here I sat looking at it and there it stood watching me. 
On lowering its head it stretched out its long neck, opened 
wide its mouth, and began hissing, a preliminary to seizing 
its prey. Soon as I saw its mouth open, all fear vanished 
Courage came forward, and whispered in my ear, “ Captain 


134 


Captain Kiddle. 

Jolm Digger Kiddle, here is a chance for further display fn 
your remarkable marksmanship.” 

I grasped a revolver, and held it at arm’s length. The 
fudyick protruded its neck a little further ; I thrust the 
length of the pistol barrel, eight inches, down its throat, 
and fired. Here let me say that, somehow or other, I have 
a peculiar weakness for putting things into an open mouth. 
Once when riding in a railway coach, I beheld a man 
across the aisle with his head thrown back on the seat and 
with mouth wide open. I dropped several pea-nut shells 
into his mouth. The poor fellow strangled terribly in 
swallowing them, and then remarked : “ Why, how curious 
in me leaving my teeth in, when I knew I would fall 
asleep.” 

He actually thought he had swallowed his false teeth. 
On learning differently, he began investigating the matter, 
and the result was, I had to get off as best I could and foot 
it ten miles to the next station, where I waited twelve 
hours for the next train. Well, I must resume my story. 
The shot of course killed the fudyick instantly, tearing 
away the head and neck. Soon as the carcass fell to the 
ground, the savages rushed forward shouting tremendously, 
and smote the air with their weapons. At first I feared 
they manifested hostility over the killing of the bird. 
Around the carcass they formed a circle, danced, and 
bowed ; bowing lower than a fond couple in a quadrille 
when the prompter calls, “Honor your partner,” and 
shouted ear-splitting shouts. I was obliged to hold both 
hands to my ears, for the noise was terrific. One more 
zealous than the rest took me up in his arms as if I was a 
child and ran around within the circle. Now I became 
aware they were expressing gratitude for my having killed 
the bird. Why should they be glad the bird was dead ? 
When Colridge’s Ancient Mariner shot the albatross with 
a cross-bow, there was lamentation among the men. Soon 
after this I learned that the fudyick hesitates not a mo- 
ment to attack either man or beast. The word “fudyick ” 
translated into English means “ bad woman.” According 
to tradition, a chiefess ruled over these savages who was 
such a tyrantess as to immortalize herself as the bad wo- 
man. She had laws enacted by which a husband was put 
to death each new moon. Her notoriety as a husband 


Slavery. 


185 


slayer would have astonished King Henry VIII. as a wife 
murderer. This species of birds first made their appear- 
ance in the early part of her reign, and hence they de- 
rived their name. Through ignorance I killed a fudyick. 
Ignorance often prompts the coward to commit an act that 
the gods shrink from. THe next time I tried to get in one 
of my remarkable shots on a fudyick I came near losing 
my life, and after a while I will relate the incident. The 
fudyick at my feet measured thirty feet from tip to tip of 
wing, and weighed not less than three hundred pounds. I 
wanted to cut off a talon and keep it as a memento like my 
bear-skin, but Bahwahgun prevented me, for which I 
thought him selfish and unjust. However, he was pre- 
serving the carcass whole to take it home, when I received 
an ovation which so augmented my pride as a hunter that 
I was vain. The warriors ceased their strange manoeuvres. 
Even Bahwahgun forgot to groan and Mr. Sanborn lament 
about his clothes. The wind that shook the boughs over- 
head bore to my ears a faint sound, which, on hearing 
again, I decided was the report of a gun. 

“ Captain, you heard that, didn’t you ? ” inquired Mr. 
Buncom, who also heard the same sound. 

“ I did.” 

“ And what did you take it to be ? ” 

“The discharge of a gun. Jack’s, undoubtedly.” 

“ That is what I thought.” 

“ Poor fellow ! they will certainly slay him.” 

“ And so he will some of them.” 

“ I care not how many, for that is what I think they in- 
tend to do with us all on arriving where they live.” 

“You adaw my worst fears,” continued I, for fhe same 
thoughts were constantly on my mind. 

Presently I counted fourteen reports in quick succession, 
about as rapid as a Winchester repeating rifle can be dis- 
charged. 

The rifle that Jack had carried sixteen shots. When 
Bahwahgun heard the reports he sat up, grunted, and then 
laid down again on a blanket I had spread out for him. 
Half an hour after the firing of the shots came low, mourn- 
ful cries from somewhere in the tall grass. Bahwahgun 
jumped to his feet, hurt his disabled foot, and sat down 
with a howl. Presently three savages were seen coming 


136 


Captain Kiddle . 

abreast. The one in the middle was supported by the 
other two, and he could hardly stand upon his feet. On 
coming closer I saw blood gushing from the right breast, in 
which was a bullet hole. They had brought him for me 
to cure, but he expired the moment after arriving. There 
was a wild jabbering among them, and then they all ran 
back fast as their long, powerful legs could, carry them. 
Being so long-legged and powerful they ran with nearly 
race-horse speed. Bahwahgun, having no sandals, could 
not follow, though he wanted to badly. I took the san- 
dals from the dead savage’s feet and gave them to him. 
He meditated on the matter. His dignity was hurt as ours 
is when circumstances compel us to seek a second-hand 
store and buy a pair of shoes, after having been accus- 
tomed all our lives to the best foot-gear the market affords. 
Finally, however, he concluded to wear them. They were 
considerably too small, at which he found fault. Had he 
been reared amid the elevating influences of civilization he 
would have been glad instead, for civilization only can 
make a shoe fit a foot a size or two larger than itself. He 
did not proceed, as he could not bear any weight upon his 
sore foot. B}^ Mr. Buncom’s permission I gave the illus- 
trious savage his crutch. It was too short and he looked 
extremely awkward on it. This incident reminded me of 
a friend of mine, not taller than myself, whose mother was 
short as himself. He married a tall girl. Now then, this 
girl’s mother-in-law, contrary to the universal custom, 
sickened and died. The young husband, being indigent 
as well as indolent, was not a good provider. 

About two months after his mother’s obit, his wife came 
out with one of the old lady’s dresses on, reaching hardly 
down to the knees. In it how awkward she looked ! 

Mr. Anderson and myself were the only ones who followed 
after the savages. The ground we passed over was ridgy, 
like a plow makes in hilling up corn. There being so many 
ridges running parallel with each other induced me to be- 
lieve that this land was once tilled. To further substantiate 
this theory, we came across a ditch along whose edge was 
a ridge from three to five feet high. We crossed over this 
ridge, and presently came upon another one almost like it, 
running at right angles, extending till reaching another 
ridge running in the same direction as the first one. I 


137 


Slavery . 

saw that these ridges and the wall encompassed a tract of 
about forty acres. Now I was positive it had once 
been a field. We crossed over several more such ridges 
before reaching a flat covered with that rank, tall species 
of grass of which I have spoken. The grass was so rank 
and tall that I could make but little headway. Bahwahgun 
was worse off than myself, for the grass caught his crutch 
and tripped him frequently. At length he turned round 
and went back. 

“ Mr. Anderson,” said I, 44 I am going back, too.” 

“ Captain,” replied he, knocking the ashes from his 
brier-root on the palm of his hand, 44 during my long and 
intimate acquaintance with you, this is the first time 1 ever 
remember of your not goingthrough with anything that you 
undertook. You have been my pattern and I have finished 
everything I undertook, so far as my abilities and circum- 
tances would permit.” 

As for myself, I could not remember whether I had made a 
failure of anything I undertook since Mr. Anderson was with 
me, but I do know that he completed everything he under- 
took. His words cheered me, but they did not clear my 
path. At length I became jaded out, and said, “ Mr. 
Anderson, I can go no further, and for what are we going? 
On a wild-goose chase, chasing a pack of savages.” 

44 Captain, get upon my shoulders,” said Mr. Anderson, 
kneeling. 

I mounted his back. My head was above the grass and 
I had a good view of the surrounding country. We were 
following along the river. Its bank was almost as marshy 
as the banks of the river Styx. On and on we went, and ere 
long I thought we would come upon the beach. After a 
while, however, a short distance before me I saw the grass 
move. Around a little clear space, where the grass was 
trampled down, I beheld the savages standing in profound 
silence. Within the circle I saw the bodies of fifteen 
savages, just as each had fallen before Jack’s deadly rifle. 
My surprise was above the power of my tongue to word 
it. 

“ Jack, noble Indian,” thought I at length, 44 who would 
have thought him so brave ? ” 

At first I thought they had slain him ; yet, not knowing 
why, I called, saying, 44 Jack, are you alive yet?” 


138 


Captain Kiddle. 

“ I am,” replied he, unconcerned as if he had killed so 
many coyotes. 

He came from behind the savages with hands tied 
behind him. From his belt dangled fifteen bloody scalps 
from the heads of his victims. 

“ Jack, you have done an awful thing.” 

“ Maybe so, and maybe not.” 

“ Where is the rifle ?” 

He pointed to the grass behind where he had stood. I 
motioned for a savage to get it, but he was superstitiously 
afraid. He gave a shout, trying to imitate its report, and 
then fell over, making me understand that it would kill 
him if he touched it. Mr. Anderson picked it up ; the 
savages gave a howl, and fled. I cut the thongs that 
bound Jack’s hands, and he came along with us. I was 
sure they would not molest him again, for he had taught 
them a fearful lesson. When emerging from the grass I 
saw several fudyicks soaring high in the air. With almost 
the rapidity of a thunderbolt, one of them descended where 
the slaughter took place, and shortly it rose with a body in 
its talons and flew towards the mountains. Down dropped 
six more. After screeching, and fighting among themselves 
for several minutes, each one rose with a ' body. When 
well on their way to the mountains, eight more descended; 
and I saw them all rise except two which I concluded were 
devouring their prey on the ground. It was not long be- 
fore four more descended and not one of them ascended 
till after we reached camp. I was surprised on seeing two 
of them rise, each bearing a dead fudyick, killed in contro- 
versy for the prey. 

Presently another one arose with two human bodies, fol- 
lowed by a preyless one, and ascended high in the air ; as 
high, if not higher, than when I first saw them circling 
around. They came directly overhead. The one that 
did not succeed in procuring prey began fighting one 
of the others. It was not long before I saw something 
drop which struck the earth with a heavy thud, and blood 
flew in my face. Before me, not three yards off, lay a 
human body crushed in a shapeless mass. The fudyick, in 
fighting had let it drop. I never saw such a fearful sight 
but once before, and that was the body of a balloonist 
which fell from the balloon at the height of five thousand 


Slavery. 


139 


feet; almost one mile. Not only did I see it, but thousands 
of others, many of whom fainted. To return : while be- 
holding the ghastly sight, I heard a noise above me which I 
recognized as the descent of a fudyick. Scarcely had I 
dodged beneath the branches of a friendly tree before it 
landed right where I had stood, looking rather foolish at 
my escape. I intended to kill it with one of my remark- 
able shots, but Mr. Anderson requested me to stand aside, 
which I did, and he killed it with my favorite rifle. This 
w^as his first off-hand shot since Dutch wounded him in 
the hand. Before the report ceased echoing among the 
trees, down came another fudyick which Mr. Anderson 
killed the moment it lit. Then four more came down, one 
right after another, and he shot them all but one. 

“ Mr. Anderson, why don’t you finish this one also ? ” 
inquired I. 

“ I want to experiment a little,” replied he, “ This 
bird will, I think, try to get away with all it can possibly 
carry, and I am anxious to ascertain its full strength.” 

“ A wise plan,” added I, demurely. 

The fudyick viewed the carcasses a few moments, and 
then seized them all in one talon. It arose to the height 
of the trees, and on seeing it might bear a heavier burden, 
it descended and took up the human body in the other 
talon. It started upwards, though slowly. The five car- 
casses weighed at least ten hundred pounds, and the body 
two hundred and fifty pounds ; making in all twelve hun- 
dred and fifty pounds. It was the largest fudyick I had 
yet seen, and carried four times it own weight or there- 
abouts. It was one of the most marvellous displays of 
power I ever witnessed in any living object. On ascend- 
ing high as the tallest tree in the cluster beneath which 
we were camped, it remained almost stationary for about 
five minutes, though striving desperately to rise up and 
onward. Its strength was becoming exhausted, and it 
began to descend. 

“ I will help you down a little, old fellow,” said Mr. 
Anderson, on taking aim. 

He fired. Down came the fudyick and all. One of the 
carcasses fell square on Mr. Sanborn’s head. 

Pie looked up and said, “ Hi, up dar ; don’t fro down 
any more trash ! ” 


140 Captain Kiddle. 

I ordered. Lib to prepare a meal, for I heard Bahwahgun 
giving a few hollow groans. Shortly after dining I rolled 
up in my blankets for a good nap. I do not know how 
long I slept when something heavy upon my stomach woke 
me up. On opening my eyes I beheld a savage, whose face 
was strange (I recognized all of Bahwahgun s warriors at 
first sight) standing with one foot upon my breast and ready 
to transfix me on his spear. I shouted out in terror, which 
woke up Bahwahgun. He sprang upon his feet and said 
something to my would-be slayer in angry tones. The 
savage thus addressed fell upon the ground beside me, 
and protruded his tongue. Then he lowered his head and 
shook it. I thought he wanted to bump skulls with me. 
I was aware how little my own could injure his, and 
pointed out Mr. Sanborn. I knew that Mr. Sanborn would 
give him all the skull cracking he wanted. Afterwards I 
learned that the savage meant forgiveness. This savage 
was a new arrival — one of a band of five hundred that 
came in quest of their chief. They were delighted at the 
killing of the fudyicks, but appalled over the fate of those 
Jack slew. Bahwahgun ordered the journey resumed, and 
the new-comers assisted my men in bearing their burdens. 
Mr. Levy was relieved of his entire burden, and carried 
his bag of coin. Jack was somewhere in the rear among 
the warriors, and I did not see him till after finishing the 
journey. I noticed that the carcasses of the fudyicks Mr. 
Anderson and I killed were carried along. We kept upon 
the wall, which went over a hill, and down into a valley 
which is almost round. Here the wall seemed to have 
crumbled away entirely. 


The Fiery Furnace. 


141 


CHAPTER XV. 

THE FIERY FURNACE. 

This round valley is in the neighborhood of ten miles 
across it. At the north the great mountains rise abruptly ; 
south, small hills ; the wall passes over the lowest one. On 
the east rugged foot hills, and the same on the west. In the 
centre almost close together as shucks of grain in a harvest 
field, were mounds grass-grown, some perfect as if con- 
structed by the Mound Builders. At first I thought it the 
work of this prehistoric race, but on examination I found 
them composed of debris — once comprising a city of remote 
antiquity. Within these mounds dwelt the savages, in 
small chambers they had hollowed out. I named this place 
Bahwahguntown after the chief. When we arrived here 
the entire population, consisting of about three thousand 
souls, all told, gathered around us. The women, perfect 
Amazons, were as scantily clad as the men, while the children 
were not at all elegantly attired — having on nothing more 
than nature endows us with. The carcasses of the fudyicks 
astonished them, and when Bahwahgun told who killed the 
birds, I thought that Mr. Anderson and I would be stared 
to death. Women thrust their great greasy faces close up 
to ours, and jabbered something, maybe, for all I know, de- 
nouncing us as rascals and cowards. I wished that Mr. 
Sanborn had been in my place. He said that when a per- 
son stared at him it was to admire his beauty. Poor Mr. 
Sanborn ! he stood at the left of Mr. Buncom, trying to 
cover his black skin with the lower portion of Mr. Buncom’s 
shirt that had come unceremoniously out of his pantaloons. 
I looked toward Mr. Anderson to ascertain how he was stand- 
ing the ordeal. There he stood with hands behind him, 
nodding, smiling and nodding. Nothing in the world makes 
me more nervous than woman’s scrutiny. 1 can face the 
ocean in every mood it is capable of assuming without the 
least timidity. Mr. Anderson on observing my nervousness 
said, “ Brace up, Captain ! This is more pleasant than 


142 


* Captain Kiddle . 

facing a stormy sea, hungry bears, or ravenous fudyicks.” 

u Give me the sea, bears or fudyicks everytime,” replied I. 

I saw him bow profoundly and smile imperially. Before 
him stood a damsel (my heart beats so I can hardly talk at 
all) ; she was beautiful. Her skin was much whiter than 
mine before I took to the sea. They all tell me I am one of 
the whitest men that ever lived — probably meaning white- 
livered. Her long, dark, heavy, wavy hair hung below the 
kuee. Her eyes were black as a fudyick’s plumage, and Mr. 
Sanborn’s skin included ; eye-lashes, long and dark as her 
eyes, cheeks red as Mr. McFadden’s just after painting ; 
nose, fashioned to embellish her countenance, and mouth to 
do the same. Such perfect features I never saw before or 
since — beyond the pale of the sculptor’s chisel or poet’s pen. 
She spoke, but I could not understand. Her voice was low 
and musical as Apollo’s harp when first attuned to speak 
of love. M}^ gaze was fixed upon her. I could not see a 
great, greasy face close to my own, before the nose touched 
my cheek. The touch would have been more pleasant had 
the nose known the use of a handkerchief. If old Satan him- 
self had stood before me I would have ignored his presence. 
Beauty in woman is the fixed pole around which man’s soul 
revolves. As the moon is queen of the heavens, so is woman 
of the earth. We follow, we obey her. If she is a mun- 
dane angel, we become as an archangel, but if otherwise we 
degenerate accordingly. 

Said Mr. Anderson, I was glad he spoke for I was becom- 
ing almost enchanted : “ Captain, what do you think of my 
girl? Isn’t she a beauty? ” 

“ Indeed she is.” 

He motioned for her to look at me. On casting her eyes 
upon me, the color left her cheeks and blanched as if behold- 
ing a Gorgon. Was she so afraid of my insignificance ? 
Turning back to Mr. Anderson, I saw the color return. 
Presently the crowd dispersed, and a fearful howl rent the 
air. Bahwahgun had just made known the fate of those 
Jack slew. The unfortunate ones’ wives and relatives were 
bemoaning their fate. I could not find Mr. Anderson amid 
the tumult. I was anxious to find out, if possible, who this 
beauty was. At last I came upon Mr. Buncom, leaning up- 
on his crutch, who said he saw Mr. Anderson and the girl 
in question go past a few moments before. 


143 


The Fiery Furnace .. 

u Oh,” said I, “ Mr. Anderson is already in lore.” 

I was not willing to admit that I was desperately in love 
with her myself. My conscience kept saying, “ Captain 
John Digger Kiddle, you little Bantam rooster, you are not 
large enough to be more than a mote in a woman’s eye. 
How can you expect she should care for you at all ? ” 

Amid the shrieks and lamentations, I heard the voice of 
Mr. Sanborn, and thought he was mourning for the dead also. 

Said I, “Mr. Sanborn, is your love for those savages so 
great that you mourn like that? Were you among the 
slain, the living would laugh over your fate.” 

“ Oh Massa, dem clothes ob mine.” 

“Well, what of them? Within a month or such a 
matter, I will have to appear in the same sort of rig you 
have on, for my clothes will be worn out.” 

“ Cap’n, de trufe is, I’m in lub, an’ want dem to shine up 
a little in.” 

“ Impossible ! what can you see in any of these great 
coarse faces to admire ? ” 

“ Massa, I sees one face lublier dan my Emma Lila’s* 
way down Souf.” 

I had to laugh at his misfortune, but the object of his 
adoration, Mr. Anderson’s and mine also, was afraid of him* 
as the most superstitious are of a black being blacker than 
Mr. Sanborn. After a while I found Mr. Anderson, who 
was whistling — a thing I never knew him to do before. 
Then he began singing thus : 

“ O spout ye whales, 

0 blow ye gales, 

Breakers! sound tliy warning; 

1 feel just as gay 

As the birds of May 

That sing in the morning. ” 

If Mr. Anderson ever felt an exhilaration before, he 
manifested it in blasphemy. 

Said he, after a grin, something also exotic : “ Captain, if 
that was not an ovation, tell me what is ? And how did 
you enjoy it ? ” 

“ I felt as uncomfortable as at a banquet on having just 
dined, trying to force down food.” 

“It was altogether different with me,” replied he, with 
a broader grin and several small ones coming after. 


144 


Captain Kiddle. 

“Perhaps you can stand being stared at ; I never could, 
for I am exceedingly modest.” 

“ Captain,” he went on hesitatingly, “ I request a favor 
of you. W ere you to grant it, I will guarantee you another 
ovation in honor of your remarkable marksmanship.” 

“ I think that my reputation as a peerless marksman is 
fully established, of which I am aware without being re- 
minded by another ovation. Well, what is the favor ? ” 

“ You know that heavy bed-quilt of mine? ” 

“ Yes, certainly.” 

“ I should like to exchange it for your purple blanket.” 

“ I may need it to cover my nakedness before long.” 

His countenance grew troubled ; he heaved a sigh and 
I saw he was miserable. 

“ Mr. Anderson, you can have it,” said I at length. 

“ Oh, Captain, you are so good ! ” 

He grasped my hand, shook it, and I felt every joint in 
my body crack. On taking up the blanket, he departed, 
but returned after a while. Bahwahgun showed us, the 
Purple X members, about town, though there was not 
much to be seen, and then took us to a mound, the largest 
•one among them. We entered it by crawling in the same 
manner as we used to our ice-house. We soon found our- 
selves within a chamber twenty feet square. The walls 
were smooth, so was the ceiling, which seemed one solid 
stone supported in the center by a column. The floor was 
of stone, smooth, and highly polished ; one could almost 
see himself reflected in it. This ruin was in the best state 
of preservation of any in town. There were two windows, 
one at the west, facing the street, probably at one time 
Main street. And the other at the north, facing perhaps 
an alley-way. This was Bahwahgun’s headquarters, or 
royal palace. He showed us great respect in giving up 
the royal castle. The furniture, etc., had been removed 
before we took possession, and I could not learn how he had 
it furnished. The quilt I got of Mr. Anderson made me 
quite comfortable, in keeping my bones from the hard 
floor. Upon it Mr. Buncom reposed also, and congratu- 
lated me on the acumen I manifested as a trader. Had it 
not been for my bearskin, which was ripped open on this 
event in question, we would have lain cold. Mr. Anderson 
rolled himself up in a tattered quilt and blanket, all the 


The Fiery furnace. 


145 


bedding he now possessed, and was soon asleep. I could 
not go to sleep. Something, I hardly knew what, agitated 
my mind. I tried to think what it was, but could not. 
Then I tried to think of nothing and then it came to 
me. Ah, that face ! The floor became harder every mo- 
ment. It, like the world, was no feather bed ; but like the 
world, cold and hard as a granite-paved street. Mr. Bun- 
com began snoring, which made me more uncomfortable. I 
was wretched indeed. As the old saying is, “ Misery likes 
company.” I woke up Mr. Buncom, who inquired if any- 
thing was wanting. 

“ I want you to keep me company as I am much agi- 
tated. 

“ I am troubled also, and the trouble came even in my 
sleep. I am glad you woke me, for I was in the first stages 
of nightmare. I do wonder — ” 

“ Wonder what ? ” interrupted I. 

“ Whether,” continued he, his voice trembling — 
“ whether Imp has any kidney medicine, nowadays.” 

“ Is that all that troubles you ? ” 

“ Is not that enough? Poor Imp, she has often said if 
it was not for that medicine, she would have gone up into 
the sky long ago.” 

“ If she ever goes that way at all,” thought I. “ she 
will have to take along a large supply of kidney medicine 
to make herself at all agreeable to the angelic hosts.” 

“ Captain, what is it that worries you ? ” 

“ You know of my loss in the wreck.” 

“I do, and it is wonderful how you bear up so well* 
Many a man with body large and strong as my own would 
have gone insane enough to end his life. Did you notice 
that beautiful creature with Mr. Anderson ? ” 

“ For heaven’s sake do no mention the matter ! ” replied 
I, rather hotly, for I thought he had discovered the cause 
of my trouble and was trying to tantalize me. 

Did you notice her perfect form ? ” continued he. 

I made no reply. 

“ Well, Captain,” he went on, “ she reminds me so much 
of my daughter Hattie. I am sorry for the poor thing, 
having to go clad the way she is, but I can do nothing for 
her.” 

He said nothing more. I wished I had let him dream on 

10 


146 Captain Kiddle . 

of his Imp and her medicines. I did not get any sleep at 
all. Just as I began to doze I heard something grunting 
at the door. Raising my head I saw Bahwahgun kicking 
and grunting his way into our presence. Why he did not 
make the doorway large enough, I do not know. After 
much exertion, the first I had seen him put forth, he got 
through. 

“ Good-morning, Bahwahgun,” said I. 

He nodded and grunted as he approached Mr. Anderson 
who was sound asleep. Bahwahgun rolled him over and 
shook him. 

“ What in the name of the evil one do you want,” 
growled Mr. Anderson, half asleep. 

Bahwahgun smiled, ambrosial as if addressed in words 
coined for the addressing of potentates only. He made a 
motion which Mr. Anderson understood, but I did not. 
Mr. Anderson left with a smile radiating his face, and then 
it became apparent that he was on his way to see the 
beauty. Bahwahgun had come after him to marry them. 
Had I been aware of this I would not have committed such 
blunders, of which I will speak shortly. Lib had been up 
an hour and called us to breakfast. Mr. Buncom and I 
enjoyed a plate of mush and milk, we also had sweet pota- 
toes, corn bread, and coffee. Indian corn grows on this 
island in great abundance, yielding more to the acre than 
any place else in the world. The milk was from cows of a 
small, inferior breed, the only inferior species the island 
contains. Such large sweet potatoes ! I saw one three feet 
long, two feet in diameter, weighing above one hundred 
and fifty pounds. This was a delightful change after 
having subsisted almost entirely upon meat and fish. I 
took so heartily to vegetable-eating that Mr. Buncom 
called me a vegetarian. When we had finished eating, 
down the path came Bahwahgun, grunting a few hollow 
grunts; behind him was Mr. Anderson and his bride. She 
smiled and nodded at me. I thought her a little proud of 
her new attire — my blanket with a hole cut through the 
center, through which was her head. It hung down her back 
almost to the heels and in front just below the knee. It 
was girded at the waist with one of the groom’s web sus- 
penders. The red lining of the groom’s felt hat was on 
her head, resting lightly upon the hair. This simple attire 


The Fiery Furnace . 


147 


made her more beautiful than ever, and I dared not look 
upon her. She and her husband both ate from the same 
plate (we had two dozen tin plates among our effects) and 
besides they drank from the same cup — Mr. McFadden’s 
shaving mug, which I claimed on his decease. I left 
them smiling on each other and sought my men who were 
in bondage. I found them divided in two gangs, one to 
follow agriculture, of which Mr. Sanborn was foreman, 
which made him feel so good that he forgot about how he 
looked and greeted me with a broad grin. Under him was 
Mr. Wilcox, Westman, and Hannah. The other gang with 
Don Leguna, foreman, was to follow masonry and carpen- 
tering. Under him was Mr. Morrisey, Jackson, Harry, 
and Levy. This gang began clearing away the rubbish for 
the foundation of a structure — Bahwahgun’s new palace. 
I did not see the Esquimau or Jack anywhere about, and 
inquired of Mr. Sanborn concerning them. He said they 
had left with one hundred warriors about two hours pre- 
vious. Just then Bahwahgun came up and pointed to the 
foot hills lying at the east, toward which he began limping. 
His foot was better and could bear part of his weight upon 
it, thus dispensing with the use of a crutch. I followed on 
and after me came Mr. Anderson and his bride, on their 
wedding tour. I wished she had been “ ten, thousand miles 
away.” They conversed and seemed to understand each 
other. Mr. Anderson spoke a language of which I could 
not understand a single word. I knew it was neither 
Swede nor Norwegian for I have a fair command of both 
of these languages. I stepped up beside Bahwahgun, and 
began talking to him, and he to me. I could get as much 
sense from the roar of the ocean as from his jabbering, and 
probably he could the same from mine. I began telling 
what a beautiful country he had. I thought by the way he 
looked down, that he was making fun of me. This angered 
me, and I shouted, “ Bahwahgun, you old villain ! ” 

This pleased him; thinking, probably, I was extolling 
him. 

“If I had such an ugly old pate as yours, I would sit 
upon the mountain-top for a scare-crow.” 

He laughed ; it was not a hollow laugh this time for he 
had just dined. 

“ Just the sight of your face is enough to frighten away 


148 Captain Kiddle. 

all your wives. How many wives have you, anyhow?” 

This made him roar so loud that the ground seemed to 
tremble beneath us. Our course was up a broad “ wash,” 
that is, the dry bed of a stream flowing when the snow 
melted in the mountains. On both sides was a high bank 
of gravel, looking exactly like the fabulously rich aurifer- 
ous gravel beds I saw along the Sacramento River the 
first time I came to California. 

Mr. Anderson, on glancing at the banks, said, “ Captain, 
if there is not gold here the Treasury building at Wash- 
ington contains none either. Some day I will come up 
here and prospect this gravel. Don’t you think it a good 
idea?” 

“ What would you do with the gold if you got any ? ” 

“ Oh, spend it on tobacco, grog, and have a good time, 
like I used to when mining along the American River. 

“ Remember you are not in California now.” 

“ That’s so ; I forgot where we were.” 

He resumed conversation with his companion. I ran to 
overtake Bahwahgun, who had limped round a bend and 
was out of sight. I scrambled up an abrupt ledge, where 
bed rock cropped out, and saw something yellow between 
two large boulders. I paid no attention to it and passed 
on. On ascending the right hand bank, which was about 
twenty feet high, I came upon quite level ground. The 
stream coming down the wash, sank in the sand several 
rods above where we left the bed. At the north, probably 
not more than three miles distant, rose the highest moun- 
tain, almost perpendicular, piercing the clouds that hovered 
around its crest, as if weary of their flight. Snow, the ac- 
cumulation of thousands of years, coruscated in the sun- 
shine. Towards the right a spur ran out, clad with dense 
forests. From this spur ran another one, the backbone of 
which was broken. Instead of a forest, great granite 
boulders lay strewn over it. We reached the base of this 
spur after an hour’s walk from the wash — distance about 
four miles. A flight of stairs lay before us. It was ten 
feet wide ; each step a solid stone two feet broad and 
eighteen inches thick. Up the flight we went, and on as- 
cending one hundred steps, there was a level place of one 
hundred paces, three hundred feet long. We ascended 
four hundred steps more and stood upon the summit of the 


149 


The Fiery Furnace. 

spur. A more desolate looking place would be hard to 
find. Granite boulders, each weighing hundreds of tons r 
lay over the ground, and where they failed to cover the 
ground, it was strewn with fragments of limestone and 
slate. I was exhausted in coming up the stairs, for I tried 
to keep up with Bahwahgun, who went up most of the 
way two steps at a time. I sat down by the roadside and 
waited till Mr. Anderson and his bride came along. He 
carried something over his shoulder, around which was tied 
his other web suspender. 

Just before reaching me, he dropped his burden and 
said, “ Captain, would you come here ? ” 

I attempted to rise, when he took up his burden and 
laid it at my feet. It was a nugget of gold weighing fully 
one hundred pounds. 

“Where did } r ou find this?” exclaimed I, in amaze- 
ment. 

“ In the wash, upon the reef where bed rock crops out.” 

It was the same 3-ellow object that I saw. His bride 
had her hands full of gold — all she could carry. It was in 
lumps of about the size of a hen’s egg. She offered them 
to me and I placed four of them in my wallet, which lately 
had been taken with a sort of a financial cramp, brought on 
by emptiness. We followed the roadway, as broad as the 
stairs. It descended a small hill, and I looked for it in 
vain on the opposite side. It seemed to end in the hol- 
low. 

Said I, “ Mr. Anderson, probably the company that began 
this road broke up about this time, and the road was never 
finished.” 

He was of a similar opinion. I heard a roar like the 
blower to a blast furnace, coming from the hollow, and the 
next instant a lambent, smokeless flame shot up in the air 
one hundred and fifty feet strong. It was three feet across 
it. The sight startled me. On the ocean I had beheld a 
great column of water shoot up, and here on land a pillar 
of fire ascended. What next? Probably I would behold 
myself going through the air borne by some mysterious 
force of nature. Bahwahgun stood on the brow of the 
hill, motioning for us to come. A thought of horror crossed 
my mind, believing that the old fiend had brought us up 
here to cast us in the fire. 


150 


Captain Kiddle. 

Mr. Anderson, on seeing my reluctance, said, “ Captain, 
what is the matter? You tremble ; are you ill? ” 

“ That fire makes me uneasy.” 

“ Never mind that. In the mysterious hereafter, if you 
see no worse fire than that, }’ou and Mr. Buncom will be 
the only fortunate ones of the Boreas’ crew. 

Evidently Mr. Anderson did not place much faith in 
himself, nor did he consider his comrades much better off. 
An evangelist who can make a success at converting sailors 
would soon flood the market with converts. The gospel 
does not suit sailors, or the sailor does not suit the gospel. 

We advanced. Round the pillar of fire, close as the in- 
tense heat would permit, stood Baliwahgun and his war- 
riors, leaning forward slightly upon their spear-shafts. 
Jack, with hands tied behind him, stood next to Bahwah- 
gun. Opposite to Baliwahgun, behind the circle, was an 
incline shaft like that to a mine. I noticed steps going 
down it, cut in the foot- wall. This excited my curiosity, 
and I was desirous to learn the purpose it once had served. 
I descended carefully as possible, for the rock was rot- 
ten. On reaching the seventy-fifth step, I found a sta- 
tion hewn out. From it a tunnel extended to the right, 
through which I saw the glare of the fire, I advanced till 
the heat compelled me to stop, and found myself in a 
oavern made by man. The roof was supported by numer- 
ous pillars of original rock. The cavern was eight feet 
high, and, I should think, about one hundred feet square. 
Upon the floor was a heap of shining dust. I took up 
a little and discovered it to be lead-silver ore. I dug 
in the heap to the depth of about one foot and took out 
several lumps. Originally it was all lumps, but the lapse 
of centuries had decomposed it. Around the pillar of fire 
that shot up through the centre of the cavern, were a few 
stones, one upon the top of another, forming a wall of 
about three feet high. Now I saw that this mysterious 
flame had once been utilized for smelting ore. A first-class 
furnace it must have been — nature furnishing both fire 
and blast. Opposite to the ore pile, piled up to the roof, 
the length of the cavern, was a pile of metal as it came 
from the furnace, in bars of about the size of an ordinary 
bar of lead. The metal was bright. The heat from the 
fire had kept the cavern dry, preventing it from corroding. 


The Fiery Furnace. 


151 


Beyond I saw a tunnel which I would have explored, 
but the heat would not allow me to pass by. I returned 
to the station and looked down the shaft, and beheld two 
small round objects that glowed like an electric light. Two 
great jaws were wide open, from which came a forked 
tongue. I gave a howl, and ran up the stairs, most the 
time clearing two steps at a bound. When I got upon the 
surface my hair stood on end. Bahwahgun, seeing me in 
this condition, laughed, and so did his warriors. Their 
laughter sounded above the roar of the flames. 

“ Captain,” said Mr. Anderson, as he came up to the 
stone against which I leaned, “ by what little I can under- 
stand of this young lady’s language, these savages regard 
that hole as the abode of the devil, from which they claim 
to have descended.” 

“ The proof of their descent seems so positive as to be 
wholly unquestionable,” replied I. 

The flame that had played for three hours suddenly died 
away, as the extinguishing of a lamp with a blast from 
one’s mouth. Bahwahgun seized Jack, tore his shirt from 
his breast, a warrior lifted his spear, and with a quick 
thrust ran the blade through the right breast, along the 
bone. Jack never flinched or groaned. The warrior took 
hold the end of the spear-shaft, lifted him up and stood 
him in the hole, suspended on the shaft where it received 
the blade. Another warrior piled stone on the end of the 
shaft, counterbalancing Jack’s weight. His silence sur- 
prised the savages. They threw small stones at his head 
to make him speak. After the first stone struck him, he 
spoke thus : 

“You burn me to death. I die happy, for I have 
killed many of you and taken your scalps to show my 
father, when I reach the happy hunting-ground, that his 
son was brave like his father, who died in the white man’s 
stone-house (prison). My father burned many men at the 
stake. Most of them groaned and cried like a squaw. I 
am no squaw and can face death like a true Piute. 

“ Captain,” continued he, turning his head toward me, 
“you are a good, brave man, fit for Indian heaven, and I 
will meet you in the happy hunting-ground.” 

He began a wild war song. I heard the rumbling of 
advancing flames, and just had time to say, “ Farewell, 


152 


Captain Kiddle. 

Jack, ’’when they shot upward. I smelt cloth and flesh 
scorching, saw something curl up like bacon rind in a 
camp fire. A few puffs of smoke shot out one side the 
pillar, and that was the end of Jack. The flames con- 
sumed him instantaneously. I covered my face, that Mr. 
Anderson should not see my tears. He may have been 
sadder than myself, but did not show it. Laying his hand 
upon my shoulder, he saidt “Captain, by George” (in- 
stead of swearing he substituted this by-word), “ wish I 
had tins fire at home. I could soon make a fortune out 
of it.” 

“ Yes ; I suppose you would make a furnace of it, 
smelting iron or lead.” 

“ Not much. I would smelt nothing but human bodies. 
Why! don’t you understand me ? It would be a cremar 
tory. Did you notice how nice that Indian cremated? 
That was the slickest thing I ever saw.” 

“ You should not make light of it, for it was an awful 
thing.” 

“ I should like to die, when my time comes, as easy a 
death. If that was not euthanasia, what is ? ” 

“You and I may be brought here for the same purpose, 
for all we know.” 

“Well, if we are, we will go up like that Indian, and 
that’s all there is to it. If it is not our predestined death, 
we could hang in that fire and be as comfortable as the 
Hebrews in the fiery furnace.” 

“ They were protected by a superhuman power.” 

“And so are we till our time comes. Till then we are 
proof against fire, flood, famine heat and cold.” 

He engrossed his attention with his bride, leaving me to 
my reflections. Speaking about being proof against fire 
brought to my recollection a certain church deacon named 
Daniel Moses Rooter, who was a genuine hard-shell Bap- 
tist. So hard was his shell that people looked upon him 
as a fire-proof safe. In those days this class of safe was 
scarce. Some of the brethren had such faith in the dea- 
con’s ignipotent qualities, that they gave him their valua- 
bles for safe-keeping. I almost believed him fire-proof my- 
self, for I saw him rescue two children from a burning 
building that the firemen would not approach. From the 
date of this event his reputation of being fire-proof was 


153 


The Fiery Furnace. 

fully established. Not long after the fire burglars entered 
his house, and made way with only his pants containing a 
dunning letter for the amount of two dollars. Now, he 
had a reputation of being both fire and burglar-proof. 
Doubt entered my mind, and I wanted positive proof that 
he really was fire-proof. It was a long while before I got 
an opportunity to settle this question. At last it came, as 
it will to all who wait, though the waiting may exhaust 
the patience of Time. It was on a Sunday evening, at a 
revival in the church to which he belonged, that I experi- 
mented for myself. The church was crowded, and' the 
deacon entered just as Brother Mason, celebrated for his 
one and two hour prayers, began to pray. Down on his 
knees beside the stove at which I sat went the good dea- 
con. A voice whispered in my ear, which must have been 
Satan’s, saying, “ John Digger Kiddle, make hot the poker 
and decide the matter for thyself.” 

I opened the stove door carefully and laid the poker 
upon a bed of coals. When it got red-hot I withdrew it. 
When nobody was looking I thrust the poker up under 
the deacon’s coat-tails. I really began to think him fire- 
proof, when suddenly he sprang upon his feet shouting, 
“ Lord, God Almighty ! ” 

Some thought it an ebullition of his religious zeal, as he 
was very zealous. 

“ Fire, fire! I am all afire ! ” he shouted. 

At this moment I disappeared through the door. A 
panic ensued, for many thought the building was on fire. 
The result of my experiment was that the deacon lost all 
fire-proof qualities. Soon afterwards Dutch, the identical 
individual I court-martialed and shot, burglarized his house 
and got away with most all the valuables entrusted to his 
keeping. 

About as long as I have been narrating this incident 
the fire burned. Soon as it died away a savage grasped 
the Esquimau, intending to cremate him. At that moment 
Mr. Anderson snatched a revolver from my belt (I had 
them both with me), and took deliberate aim at the 
savage, and shouted, “ Let him alone or I will fix you.” 

The savage, seeing the weapon, which he greatly feared, 
in readiness to end him, shrunk back. Bahwahgun 
frowned and manifested hostility. 


154 


Captain Kiddle. 


Mr. Anderson stepped before him and said : “ Why are 
you going to murder this man ? What harm has he 
done?” 

Bahwahgun made motions by which I understood that 
the Esquimau was considered of no account. , It is the cus- 
tom of these savages to put to death in the same manner as 
Jack all those incapable of sustaining themselves and going 
to war, including the old, cripples, deaf, dumb, and blind. It 
seemed cruel, but the ancient Greeks did the same, probably 
deriving the custom from these savages. 

~ Said I to Mr. Buncom, who had not yet understood the 
motions : u Bahwahgun considers the Esquimau of no ac- 
count. Put that nugget of gold upon his shoulder and tell 
him to run around within the circle.” 

The burden was placed upon the would-be victim’s back, 
and he ran around six times within the circle. Then Mr. 
Anderson took it from his back and gave it to Bahwahgun, 
and motioned for him to do the same. Bahwahgun gave 
him to understand it was beneath his royal highness to do 
such an act. Bahwahgun ordered a warrior, the one who 
thrust his spear into Jack, to carry it around. The savage 
shouldered it with a tremendous grunt, started, and fell 
down when half way round. Bahwahgun scolded, and his 
warriors roared a roar of derision and scorn. Another took 
it up and let it fall from his back on his second step. These 
savages, so large and powerful, are as useless in bearing a 
burden as a minister from the pulpit would be in trying to 
carry Pat’s hod to the top of a four-story building. 


My Interview . 


155 


CHAPTER XVI. 

MY INTERVIEW. 

When we arrived home, I went to see how the men were 
getting along with the foundation of the new building. 
They had a trench, three feet deep and two feet broad, dug 
along one side the flat. Their tools of native manufacture 
were rude, and it required a great deal of exertion to make 
any headway with them. The men were in good spirits ex- 
cept Mr. Levy, who lay in the trench, face downward, weep- 
ing. 

a What are you doing down there, Mr. Levy ?” inquired I. 
“ Surely you have not found a fragment of Zion’s walls to 
weep over.” 

“No,” moaned he gettingup out of the trench. “It almost 
kills me to be enslaved. If there was any money in it, I 
could wear the galling yoke, which would at length become 
comfortable as a collar to the shoulders of a steed.” 

“ I shall see that you do not work in vain.” 

“ Then I can toil on with a good will.” 

Mr. Anderson came up with his hands full of gold, fol- 
lowed by the Esquimau bearing the big nugget. 

Said Mr. Anderson; “I am informed, Mr. Levy, that you 
have some tobacco for sale.” 

Replied Mr. Levy, brightening up, “ I have ; and very 
cheap too — only its weight in gold.” 

“ All right ; bring it along.” 

He brought forth about four pounds of tobacco, tied in. 
the sleeve of a shirt. In exchange, Mr. Anderson gave him 
gold to the weight of about eight pounds. Mr. Levy hefted 
the gold and then the tobacco. Said he : “ The tobacco is 
by far the heaviest.” 

“ I say it is not.” 

“Very well, we will leave it to the Captain.” 

Of course my decision could not have been otherwise than 
in Mr. Anderson’s favor. At this Mr. Levy frowned, and at 


156 Captain Kiddle. 

length said : “I meant that I wanted twice its weight in 
gold.” 

“ You have that already.” 

“ Well then, I meant three times its weight in gold. I 
must have it before I can let the tobacco go.” 

“ No. I made you a liberal offer, an exorbitant one ; keep 
the tobacco and I will the gold.” 

Mr. Anderson turned round and went his way. Mr. Levy 
followed calling, saying, “ You can have it at any price, 
take it.” 

Mr. Anderson was invincible, and replied, “ I would not 
have it now under any consideration.” 

Bahwahgun was coming up the path and smelt the fra- 
grant weed. He stopped Mr. Anderson thinking he had it, 
and Mr. Anderson pointed out the Jew. Bahwahgun moved 
on, and Mr. Levy fled, shrieking, “ My tobacco, oh my 
tobacco ! ” 

He had not gone far before Bahwahgun overtook him. 
A scuffle followed. Mr. Levy trod on the chiefs sore foot, 
which enraged him. On securing the tobacco he grasped 
Mr. Levy by the heels and flung him as far as he could . i 
Mr. Levy struck where the ground chanced to be soft, and 
then rolled over and over. Bahwahgun filled his mouth 
with tobacco and went on his way, limping badly. I ran to 
where Mr. Levy lay, and found him unconscious — bleeding 
at the mouth and nose. I considered his case as hopeless ; 
but, however, I managed to bring him to. He rolled his 
eyes and gasped, “ I want my money.” 

1 called to Mr. Anderson, who helped carry the unfor- 
tunate one to my apartments, which I had named, about 
this time, Purple X House. When we got there, I made 
an examination, and found no bones broken, except that of 
the nose. This did not surprise me much, as the patient 
had one of the largest noses to be seen outside the walls of 
Zion. Mr. Anderson brought in his bag of money and 
held it before his eyes. 

He whispered, faintly, “ Open the bag and place the 
coins where I can look at them while dying.” 

Mr. Anderson put them close to his face, and said, “ Now, 
Mr. Levy, behold your idols.” 

“ Farewell, eternal Hope,” said Mr. Levy. “You have 
been my greatest comforter during the severe trials I 


157 


My Interview. 

have passed through. Hands that know not what they 
mayest do may fling thee into the mud, or worse still, thou 
be handled by greedy money-sharks, or hoarded by some 
niggardly old wretch whose soul is wrapped up in the ac- 
cumulation of the like of thee. Alas ! good coin, thou 
wilt never help thy generous-hearted possessor, Mr. Solo- 
mon Levy, scatter his benevolence abroad, and — ” 

He would have gone on in this strain it is hard to tell 
how long, had he not fainted away. I replaced the coin 
in the bag, hoping he would say nothing more about his 
generosity. He came to pretty quick, and said in much 
stronger tones, “ Captain, my race is nearly run. My last 
request is, bury my money with me. To me it was 
sweet in life, and I know it will be my comfort in that 
long sleep. When the long-promised Messiah comes, He 
will command me to come forth and start in some sort of 
business. With the money I have it would not be long 
before my fortune was made.” 

u Mr. Levy, you are not severely injured, and you need 
not apprehend any fear of dying.” 

“ I have made up my mind to die, and what would you 
give if I agree to live ? ” 

“ A good Gentile funeral, should you die.” 

“ Rather than have my remains thus disgraced, I will 
live, anyhow.” 

I was going to say something, but Mr. Anderson pre- 
vented me by addressing Mr. Levy, thus : 44 If you will agree 
to faithfully perform your duty till circumstances set you 
at liberty, I will make you a present of this.” 

He placed at Mr. Levy’s side the large nugget of gold. 

44 1 will agree,” replied Mr. Levy, jumping upon his feet 
and taking up the nugget. 

44 Those are rather strange symptoms for a dying man,” 
said I. 

44 Ah, Mr. Solomon Levy forgot about his injuries.” 

He called the nugget his bride, and had he been as 
devoted to a bride, he would have been a doting husband. 
Mr. Anderson helped carry his gold to his quarters, and I 
went to where the agriculturists were at work. The field 
was about one mile back of town, to the left upon a small 
tableland. The soil, a rich, black loam, was several feet 
deep, moist and warm. Vegetables of almost every variety 


158 


Captain Kiddle. 


were growing m a garden. Beyond the garden was a patch 
of wheat, just heading out, about as tall as Bahwahgun’s 
head. Beyond the wheat was a field of corn in roasting 
ears. The stalks, two and three in a hill, were one foot in 
diameter at the top of the trace roots, and forty feet high. 
Each stalk bore four ears apiece. . An average ear was 
four feet long and three feet in circumference, and when 
shelled, filled a bushel measure heaping full. Mr. Sanborn 
was delighted with his task, which he understood perfectly ; 
he was raised on a southern plantation. There was also a 
patch of tobacco which he took most interest in. I saw 
that the ground was clear of weeds. The land was free 
from this curse. All the attention a crop needed till ready 
to harvest was to keep the ground stirred up a little. The 
land needed no fertilizing ; if anything, it was too rich. Is 
this one of the Isles of the Blest which the ancients sup- 
posed lay at the West — the jumping-off place of the world? 
These islands must be somewhere, and if ever to be found 
I think I discovered one of the group. 

As I stood admiring the grandeur of the scenery, I de- 
claimed thus : 

“ I glean from the bards of old 
There are islands in the West; 

The abode of happy souls, 

Islands of the Blest. 

“ Islands of the Blest, 

On thee the sun ever shines; 

No storms gather in the West 
To chill the amaranth or eglantine. 

“ Hearts that have grown sear 

With miseries of old age forsooth, 

Eyes that are dim with the tear 

Partake of the boon — perpetual youth. 

“ Oh! Islands of the Blest, 

Thou art heaven indeed ; 

A haven for the weary to rest 
Where no broken heart e’er bleeds.” 

Indeed, I was working myself up to quite a poetical 
pitch, when Mr. Sanborn came and said, “ Cap’n, I’s in 
lub.” 

“ The deuce you are.” 

“ 1 lub dat ar gal Anderson has wib him all de time.” 


My Interview. 


159 


“ Remember, Mr. Sanborn, you are black ; and for this 
reason she may not care for you.” 

“No difference, Massa. In heben de blacks and de 
whites all get round dar Massa’s throne, sing songs and 
play. De white trash play de harp, and de colored folk 
de banjo.” 

44 And what about the Chinese ? ” 

44 Oh, da all shout 4 de Chinaman must go’. 

44 1 believe you have heard Dennis Kearney speak.” 

44 Yah, I hab.” 

44 What about these savages? ” 

44 Oh, da go to mule heben.” 

I returned home to post my memorandum, in which I had 
not written a word since we landed. It bothered me a 
little to post it accurately. I did nothing for the next 
three days except to cut Mr. Anderson’s hair, where it was 
not scorched off, and shave him. My hair had grown out 
enough to remove the wig. On the third afternoon Mr. 
Anderson came in, and expressed a wish that I should 
make him a visit. Since we went to the furnace he had not 
put up at the Purple X House, and I thought he stopped 
with Mr. Levy, for they were now fast friends. In the 
evening, I went calling. I called upon Mr. Levy, expecting 
to find Mr. Anderson here, but neither of them were at 
home. Mr. Leguna informed me that he knew not the 
whereabouts of Mr. Anderson, but was positive Mr. Levy 
was at my place. I saw Mr. Morrisey and Westman going 
up the path, and without thinking what I was doing, fol- 
lowed them. 

Presently I heard Mr. Morrisey say to his comrade : 44 It 
is a pity I can’t go out unless you tag on after me.” 

44 You followed me,” replied Mr. Westman, hotly. 

44 It is a lie.” 

I heard a thud like when a pugilist gets in a square 
blow, and something fell upon the ground. The next 
moment the air was full of curses. The combatants rolled 
over and over upon the ground. They pounded each other 
for dear life, and with difficulty I separated them. 

44 What does this mean ? ” I demanded, with stern mien. 

Replied Mr. Morrisey : 44 1 started to call on Koo Koos- 
and this dog followed me.” 

44 Who is Koo Koos ? ” inquired I, seeking information- 
44 One of those Amazons I suppose.” 


160 


Captain Kiddle. 


“Why don’t you know?” inquired Mr. Westman, sur- 
prised at my ignorance. 

“ Certainly not.” 

“ Why, the girl that Anderson swells around with. I am 
going to fix him,” continued Mr. Westman, shaking his 
fist at his adversary. “ I was going there too, when this 
miserable hound smelt my tracks and came sneaking after 
me.” 

“You had better go home, both of you. For all you 
know she and Mr. Anderson may be married.” 

I heard nothing further from them. Presently not very 
far ahead of me I heard Mr. Sanborn’s banjo ringing on 
the calm air. He began singing, and this was his song, 
near as I can remember : 

“ When de ebenin’ breeze began to blow 
An’ it was gettin’ dark, 

I would take down dis ole banjo 
An go out for to spark. 

Chorus : 

“ O, how I lub to spark, 

Wheber it be light or dark. 

“ I went for to spark a colored gal, 

She was a most lubly maid; 

Her name was Emma Lila Pall, 

Black as de ace ob spades. 

Cho. 

“She painted her face all white, 

Dat made her look so fine; 

An’ in de hours ob night 
Her eyes how da did shine. 

Cho. 

“ l would hab made her my bride, 

An’ been happy wibout measure; 

But her ole fodder stood by her side, 

A’ wouldn’t gib me de treasure, 

Cho. 

“I just ’eluded to let her go, 

An’ now she am foreber gone; 

And in de sea dat flows 
Am as good fish as eber born.” 


Cho. 


My Interview. 


161 


He was doing things up in fine style — serenading the lady. 
Soon as his song died away I heard Lib singing something 
which might have charmed a maiden of the Flowery King- 
dom. His song ended in a screech, and he came flying 
past me with the Mexican at his heels. 

Said Mr. Leguna, “You little pig-tailed heathen, if I 
ever catch you in these quarters again it will be the last 
of you.” 

Mr. Sanborn began shouting to the Mexican, saying: 
“ You Greaser, lebe dat ar place.” 

“ You black nigger,” replied the Mexican, enraged at 
being called ‘Greaser.’ “You place yourself on the same 
level as the rest of us whites.” 

“ I’s better than you, you Injun.” 

“ Gentlemen,” said I, “what does this mean ? ” 

Replied Mr. Sanborn, whose skin shone like a black 
snake’s, for he had just greased himself from head to foot 
with bear’s oil, “ Dat ar Greaser is after de gal I lub.” 

“ And this nigger is after the girl I love,” replied the 
Mexican, more angry than ever. 

At length I found the whereabouts of Mr. Anderson,, 
who was with Koo Koos, near the upper end of town. I 
paused at the door similar to that of the Purple X House, 
an 1 heard Mr. Levy conversing with Mr. Anderson. 
Thinking I might interrupt the conversation by crawling 
in, I remained out doors, though not intending to listen to 
what was said, for I detest eavesdropping. Mr. Levy 
spoke rather hesitatingly, which he did whenever slightly 
embarrassed. “ Mr. Anderson,” he went on, “ I am Mr. 
Solomon Levy, an honest, circumcised Jew, of the chosen 
of God.” 

“ And also of the deniers of our Redeemer,” interrupted 
Mr. Anderson. 

This silenced Mr. Levy for several moments ; then he 
resumed by saying, “ I am of the tribe of Levi. I have a 
lawful heritage in Zion, in all the greatness and sincerity of 
heart.” 

“ Nose and mouth included, eh?” put in Mr. Anderson, 
in a jocose sort of way. 

This vexed Mr. Levy, and he stammered, “ I am Mr. 
Solomon Levy.” 

“ Well, what of it ? ” 


lt)2 Captain Kiddle. 

44 An honest, circumcised Jew has come before you, a 
Gentile, to ask of you the hand and heart of this young 
lady in marriage. I hope you will grant my request.” 

Mr. Anderson whispered in his ear, and he came forth 
immediately. Soon as he took his departure, which he did 
on bidding me a good-evening, I crawled in. 

u Is that you, Captain? ” inquired Mr. Anderson while I 
was down on all fours. 

44 It is,” replied I, kicking my way through the doorway. 

44 We have waited for you a long while, and at length 
concluded you were not coming.” 

I sat on a low stool near the door, and cast my eyes about 
the room, not to be ill-mannered but to see if it was similar 
to my own quarters. The interior was about eight feet 
square ; the walls decorated with different colored grasses, 
which gave it an artistic appearance. The floor was covered 
almost completely with wolf skin. Against the wall fur- 
thest from the door was a bed. The spread was of green, 
red and white grasses, which looked very well. Mr. 
Anderson sat beside me, and upon one of his shoulders 
leaned the lady attracting so much attention. 

44 Captain,” said he, 44 it may seem strange that I can 
speak Koo Koos’ language quite well.” 

44 Why did you not tell me this before ? And can she 
speak Bahwahgun’s ? ” 

44 Yes, but not very fluently.” 

44 What language does she speak ? ” 

“ It is a dead language ; extinct more than a thousand 
years ago ; spoken last, I believe, by the Fins. My ances- 
tors, kings of Finland, learned this language, and when 
overthrown, they returned home to Sweden, bringing of 
course this language with them. It has bqen kept in the 
family, but has become much corrupted. Koo Koos ; the 
name of this young lady, was given her by old Bah- 
wahgun, meaning, in his tongue, 44 White Goose.” 

44 1 think it a dreadful ugly name. If it was White 
Swan, how much better it would sound.” 

44 She is a captive, taken when very young, together with 
a brother two years her senior, who was put to death 
several years ago in the same manner as Jack, for attempt- 
ing to escape to an island south of here where her parents 
reside, if yet alive. She warns us not to try to get away, 


My Interview. 


103 


for we would all be cast into the fiery furnace. You know 
the monster that swallowed us, — well it was one of its old 
tricks. It has swallowed up her ancestors for hundreds of 
years back, stopping them from retaking possession of this 
land formerly theirs. They were in possession of it, ac- 
cording to her. statement, long before the oldest tree was 
planted in the garden of Eden. Her race, as she avers, 
had a wise, good man, who lived long, long ago, even before 
the creation of man, as we are taught to believe. Before 
this philosopher came, they, like the ancient Greeks* be- 
lieved they never had an origin. The philosopher taught 
them that the earth is mother of everything on its face and 
in the waters, that man sprung from the earth as do the 
forests, grain, and flowers, and like them he returns to earth 
again, while his soul seeks mysteries beyond. Woman, of 
more refined nature, rose from a beautiful lake, like Venus 
from the sea, occupying the basin in which this ruined city 
now stands. They were happy, happy as those on the 
Isles of the Blest. According to tradition, here were the 
fields of Elysium. The Fountain of Youth, which Ponce 
de Leon searched for in vain, is in the foot-hills at the 
west. In this fountain the inhabitants bathed, never grew 
old, and knew no sickness or death. An earthquake came, 
threw up these snow-covered mountains, drained the lake, 
and covered over the fountain. It also sunk hundreds 
of square miles of land lying at the south.” 

“ Has she said anything about that great stone wall ? ” 

“ Yes. A king had two sons, twins ; and on his death 
they both ascended the throne. All went well, till one fell 
in love with a beautiful girl whom the other brother also 
loved. Great trouble seemed at hand. The philosopher 
bade each brother take an equal portion of the kingdom 
and set up a government of his own, which was done. 
The wall was the dividing line, and while it was being 
built, the philosopher married the lady in question, and the 
brothers consolidated their kingdoms.” 

“ Has she said anything concerning that stairway lead- 
ing up to the furnace ? ” 

“ Nothing explicit.” 

“Then please ask her regarding it.” 

He did so. She leaned upon his shoulder a little heavier, 
and smiled sweeter. In a low, musical voice, the clearest 


IG4 


Captain Kiddle , . 

I ever heard, she spoke rapidly for several minutes. The 
language makes the tongue much effort in saying a little. 
Once or twice I heard her utter something that sounded 
Roman like — full of s’s and z’s. She paused, and he be- 
gan : u The stairs were made many years after the earth- 
quake by a strange people who came in boats. They dug* 
over the ground, taking out much gold. After a while, 
when the ground was all dug over, they mined silver. 
They all had a large nose and mouth, and looked a great 
deal like Mr. Levy. While a greater portion of them 
worked, the remainder got upon a large rock or something 
of that sort, and watched the sky, whence they expected 
to see a king descend, who would teach them goodness 
and wisdom.” 

“ Ah, T have it now ; these men were Jews and came 
here to dig gold. According to the Old Testament, King* 
Solomon sent men somewhere after gold, some think to 
South Africa. I have the best proof that they came here.” 

Continued Mr. Anderson : “ When Koo Koos’ people 
saw that these metals were valuable, they ordered these 
strange people to leave, which they did, with ships loaded 
down. Then her people began working the mines, took 
a great deal of gold and silver to a country far to the 
south, and brought back silks and merchandise. The 
trade became enormous. Many crossed over the moun- 
tains and began a city there, where the mines were richer, 
and land more fertile. She wants to know what scared 
you so the other day, when you went down the shaft.” 

“ I saw something that looked like a snake’s head.” 

He interpreted my reply, and thus she explained : 
“There is hewn out of the rock the shape of a snake’s head. 
The tongue is merely a division in the stairway — one to 
descend and the other to ascend by. The two bright ob- 
jects, serving for eyes, near as I can understand, are 
diamonds.” 

“ What ! diamonds ? ” 

“Yes, diamonds.” 

“Why, they must be large as an ostrich egg.” 

“ She says there is a long tunnel deep under the moun- 
tain, which a person can pass through to the other side. 
None of these savages have ever been through it. She 
further, says that, should we ever go across the mountains, 
for us not to touch a certain pool, as it would turn us to 


My Interview . 


165 


stone at once. What I was thinking of before you came 
in is, that, after a while, we might try to escape by the 
tunnel to the opposite side of the mountains. There we 
could build a boat and get away in safety. 1 am going to 
restore Koo Koos’ people to their lawful heritage, and 
avenge the death of Jack.” 

“It would be well to explore the tunnel before trying 
to make an escape, for it is as liable to be caved full as 
not. You know that two thousand years or more is a long 
while for a tunnel to stand. In California, I have been in 
mines worked in early days, and the tunnels and shafts 
were more or less caved in, and what would they be like 
in two thousand years ? ” 

“Your suggestion is a good one.” 

He changed the subject by asking what that “ nigger,’* 
as he always called Mr. Sanborn, was howling so about. I 
replied that he was serenading Koo Koos, because he loved 
her. 

Said she, through Mr.. Anderson, “Captain, I am hor- 
rified at his sight, he is so black and ugly-looking.” 

I requested him to ask what she thought of me. He 
spoke and she sat beside me. Though I felt decidedly 
awkward, there was something about her that soon made 
me perfectly at ease. I took her hand ; she was not very 
willing that I should do so, nor did she offer to withdraw 
it. I looked into her beautiful face ; she smiled and 
blushed. I smiled too, and tried to make her understand 
that I loved her. I whispered to Mr. Anderson a message 
to translate. I shook so that my mouth bobbed up and 
down past his ear, and he did not understand me. 

“ Captain, repeat your message.” 

“ I did so. He whispered something in her ear which 
caused her to smile. 1 could stand it no longer. I fell 
upon my knees, looked into her face with a lover’s tear in 
the corner of each eye, and said, “ Koo Koos, lam Captain 
John Digger Kiddle, the great North Pole discoverer; will 
you marry me ? ” 

Said Mr. Anderson : “ I am sorry to say that Koo Koos 
is a married lady. She and I were married by old Bah- 
wahgun just before we started for the furnace. I gave him 
the hand-mirror I got of the nigger, to perform the cere- 
mony. Had it not been for the mirror, he would not have 
married us.” 


166 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XVII. 


NARROW ESCAPES. 

u O love, thou art a dreadful thing! 

Ye set our brains a spinning, 

Our tongue some ditty to sing. 

And our countenance broadly grinning. 

“ Ye put our hearts in a flutter 

As if we had heart’s .palpitation; 

And our lips to only mutter 
Her name, the dearest in creation. 

tl Though ye make our evenings short 

By ushering us in the presence of our fair one, 

There perchance to yawn and court 
Till out the east comes the sun. 

“ Ye make us hoard every dime 

To buy her ginger cakes and candy; 

And to make us look sublime 

In eyes that may deem us a dandy. 

i( Ye make us spend lots of cash 
In preparing for our wedding; 

On us ye frown — then a crash 
And we divide furniture and bedding. 

“ O Ladies! I love thy winsom smiles 
But deemest me not at all stupid; 

For I am well schooled in thy wiles, 

Away! vain deceiving Cupid. 

“ I should not care to change my sober life 
For, long in Bachelorhood I’ve tarried; 

O, ye who are soon to take a wife 
’Tis social suicide to get married.” 

I had several more stanzas of this sort of lingo on my 
tongue, when Mr. Levy stepped before me and remarked 
in slightly sarcastic tones, “ I hope, Captain, you will bear 
your disappointment like a Jew pack-peddler does his 
pack.” 

“ What disappointment have you reference to ? ” in- 
quired I, trying to feign an indifferent mien. 


16 T 


Narrow Escapes. 

“ You know as well as myself. I saw a little man get 
down on his knees before a beautiful woman, with a tear 
in the corner of each eye, large as a green pea, and ask her 
to have him.” 

“ And did you not do the same ? ” inquired I, indig- 
nantly. 

“ Yes, but I stood up like a man.” 

“ And got rejected like an unworthy suitor.” 

“ I noticed you did not meet with any better success. 
What will you give if I keep this to myself?” 

Replied I, deeply chagrined at my conduct : “ If you 
tell it, I will give you away also.” 

“ Ah, ah,” replied he, laughing the first hearty laugh I 
ever heard him, “ Mr. Solomon Levy has told on himself 
already. He thought there was money in it, for he heard 
she knows the location of some very rich mines somewhere 
on this island. But you thought there was love in it, ah, 
ah. If you will promise me another bride ” (the gold 
nugget) “ beautiful as the one I now have I would never 
mention the matter.” 

“ I will,” replied I, for I would not have had my men 
get hold of it for anything in the world. It is as hard a 
task as I ever undertook to propose to a young lady. 
Now I had completely outdone myself, proposing to a 
married lady. 

“ Captain John Digger Kiddle, why did you do this ? ” 
I asked myself many times ; and each time more abashed 
at my inept conduct. 

I went on a few steps, and from somewhere came Mr. 
Sanborn’s voice wishing for a razor. I thought him des- 
perate, wanting to kill either himself or Mr. Anderson. I 
passed on to where the carpenter lived, and saw Mr. 
Harry and Hannah each with a red bandanna handkerchief 
over an eye ; they had been fighting. 

“ You idiots, fighting over a woman, and a married one 
at that ! ” 

“We are idiots,” said Mr. Hannah to Harry, “ and let 
us make up ; here is my hand.” 

Mr. Harry took it, and they agreed never to fight again 
over a married woman. I tried to make them stipulate 
not to fight over a single woman, which they would not do. 
The sailor is a brave, kind-hearted, good-natured fellow, 


168 


Captain Kiddle. 

full of fun as the sea is of drops of water, but soon as 
woman appears at the meridian or horizon of his mortal 
sky, he becomes like an Apache warrior, to all who inter- 
fere with him. I went on, more disgusted than ever. 
When almost home Bahwahgun met me. He stopped to 
admire himself in the hand-mirror he got of Mr. Ander- 
son, with the admiration of Dutch. Presently he placed 
the mirror before my face. I shut my eyes so that 1 
might not behold my features, which I knew were pallid. 

“ Take that horrid glass away,” I shouted. 

If it had not been for it I might have been one of the 
neogamist pair. I further despised it on account of the 
remembrance of its donor — my sweetheart, who gave it to 
me the Christmas previous to 1113’ first whaling cruise. I 
hoped to find tranquillit}' at home, but before reaching the 
door I heard Lib lamenting and saying, u Me lovee girlee 
allee samee as Melican man.” 

When I crawled in he ceased for a while, and began 
again. 

“Lib, if I hear another word, I will put you among 
Bahwahgun’s wives.” 

He was much afraid of these women, and I heard 
nothing more from him. After a while I went to sleep 
and slept pretty good. However, I dreamed of being hen- 
pecked by one of Bahwahgun’s consorts, who had left her 
lord and he compelled me to marry her, ending her widow- 
hood. It is the custom of these savages, on marrying, 
when one of the part} r dies, the survivor, on the day after 
the obsequies, either chooses to marry again or death" by the 
furnace. I learned that onty one ever chose death in 
preference to. wedlock, and he was considered insane. 
After breakfast, of which I ate but little, disappointment 
having taking away my appetite, as it does invariably, I 
proposed to take a walk. Mr. Buncom said he w'ould go 
along to exercise his broken leg a little. His leg had now 
mended so that he could bear most his weight upon it. 
We started ; he took along his harpoon and I my revolvers. 
We went toward Koo-Koos’ hut ; the sight of "it made me 
sad, and I decided not to go past it. Mr. Buncom went 
on straight ahead, and I chose a circuitous route. On 
passing over a knoll I saw a clear, beautiful sheet of water, 
and in it swam two savages whom I took for males. I 


169 


Narrow Escapes. 

walked down along the water’s edge and watched them 
swim, as they were excellent swimmers. Presently one 
began wading ashore, and I saw it was a female. I walked 
rapidly away, and one gave chase. Then I ran at full speed. 
She soon overtook me, and struck me in the back with 
her great fist and knocked the wind out of me. When I 
got up I intended to fire a shot at her, but she had dis- 
appeared over the hill. Mr. Buncom came up and I told 
him what had happened. He remarked if they were 
that modest out of water, he would have a more favorable 
opinion of them. I leaned upon his arm till recovering 
from the effects of the blow. We passed up an old road- 
way cut in the hill-side, a few rods above a small stream. 

On our right were vast lava beds rising to the height of 
above one thousand feet, forming what is known as foot- 
hills. Granite boulders, larger than those round the fur- 
nace, covered the ground. Up between them, here and 
there, grew a large tree resembling California redwood. 
The road, on running one mile, crossed the stream, spanned 
by an elegantly constructed stone bridge, yet in good con- 
dition. At the further end of the bridge lay a dressed 
stone, polished smoothly as a tombstone. The size of it 
astonished me. Length one hundred feet, width thirty 
feet, and thickness twenty feet. If it had been mounted 
upon some sort of a contrivance for transportation, the con- 
veyance had rotted away entirely, and the stone lay flat upon 
the ground. Whether the bridge was not strong enough to 
bear up this enormous weight, or the stone could be got 
no further, we can only conjecture. For what purpose 
was this stone intended? If for a building, it greatly ex- 
ceeds any used in our own times. If for a prison, it would 
be proof against the most expert jail-breaker. If for a fortifi- 
cation, it would resist our heaviest siege guns. How help- 
less would have been a surging host, trying to force a 
breach in a wall of stone like this one. The centuries of 
exposure had marred it not a particle. Undoubtedly it 
had been left there centuries before man conceived the 
lofty idea of ascending up into heaven by a tower. On 
spending years at tower building, man concluded that his 
aspirations were more lofty than what his hands could per- 
form. Centuries afterwards, he called on the assistance of 
Nature to bear him up like Romulus, who was taken up into 


170 Captain Kiddle. 

heaven by a whirlwind, or Elijah in a chariot of fire. The 
modern thinker renders ascension more simple by taking' 
the spirit up on the wings of an angel. The man with the 
golden slippers, I believe, intends to “ go up in a chariot in 
the morning.” Probably the near future philosopher will 
send the spirit up, touching it off with electricity. Well, 
whatever way Nature intends for our body and spirit to go, 
it will do so. Not all the philosophers or preachers can 
change the matter one iota. As I stood admiring the 
stone, Mr. Buncom, who had gone on ahead, called, saying, 
“ Captain, here is something to marvel at.” 

I hastened forward and beheld him standing before a 
great round object, extending four feet above his head, re- 
sembling a huge redwood saw-log, On coming closer I saw 
it was a column stone, fully ten feet in diameter. I paced 
the length of it along the ground, and it was two hundred 
feet in length, and polished like the stone. This exceeded 
anything I ever saw, heard of, or read about. This was 
something new, though it did not surprise me much, as the 
stone convinced me we were in a land where great things 
were done once. We left the column stone, and came 
upon the quarry whence these wonders were taken. 
There partly finished columns, the same dimensions of the 
one completed, lay in the yard. Next to them were four 
large stones as they came from the quarry. The quarry 
itself was buried beneath a mass of stone are dirt, washed 
from the steep hill above. 

“Are not these stones wonderful?” said I to Mr. 
Buncom. 

“ Yes, and a wonderful people must hfeve taken them 
out.” 

“ What do you think — what is that noise? ” 

“ I hear nothing.” 

Again the noise sounded, resembling the bark of a dog. 

“ It must be a dog,” continued I. 

This seemed impossible, for I had not noticed a single 
canine since we landed. These savages have no dogs 
among them, and therefore know not the deliciousness of 
a dog stew as deemed by our own savages. Again the yelp- 
ing came, much nearer, and another yet came from across 
the creek and still another upon the hill pretty close to the 
top. 


171 


Narrow Escapes. 

“ It must be wolves,” said Mr. Buncom ; “and I wonder 
if they are bold enough to attack us. Should they do so, 
I think we can stand them off, for you know, Captain, that 
you are a remarkable shot and I am pretty handy with an 
harpoon.” 

“ Should not like to face them,” replied I, trembling a 
little. 

“ What ! a man after killing four bears, a goose, and a 
fudyick surely ought not to be afraid of a few wolves.” 

There was a continuous yelping now ; from every direc- 
tion it came. Not four rods ahead of us stood a great 
lank, black creature with tongue lolling, showing a set of 
long sharp teeth. 

“ They are black wolves,” remarked Mr. Buncom, “ the 
same as I have seen in Russia ; dangerous animals indeed. 
Captain, give him a shot.” 

I drew a revolver, leveled it, and fired ; at the same time 
saying, “ Take that, old wolf.” 

I heard the ball strike a rock about twenty rods in front 
of us, and one hundred feet above us. 

“ There goes my reputation as a remarkable shot, and 
Mr Buncom, keep this quiet.” 

Four more creatures came up beside this one. I could 
stand it no longer, though Mr. Buncom urged me to stand 
my ground. 

“Run for your life!” I shouted, turning round and 
flying down the road. 

A fearful yelping rent the air, and I heard Mr. Buncom's 
crutch go pumpty pump, and knew he was coming. I heard 
him shout. I looked round and the wolves were scarcely 
two yards behind him. He faced them, thrust his harpoon 
through one and started on. The carcass was instantly 
seized by the ferocious beasts, and soon devoured. This 
made them more bloodthirsty. I heard Mr. Buncom shout 
again, and thought they were devouring him. It is im- 
possible to tell how bad I felt. I knew while they were de- 
vouring him they would not be after me. He, being so 
large, would occupy them for quite a while, till I might 
possibly reach some place of safety. The hopes of escaping 
palliated the horrors of the death I thought had overtaken 
him. Again he shouted. I glanced over my shoulder, and 
saw that he was safe on top the rock. How he ever man- 


172 


Captain Kiddle . 

aged to get up there I do not know. He said lie jumped 
up, but a spring of twenty feet perpendicular is a pretty 
big leap, and a much more difficult one for a person with a 
broken leg. The wolves were around the rock trying to 
spring upon it. One leaped so high that its forepaws came 
on top, and Mr. Buncom harpooned it the next moment. 
The carcass fell to the ground and was devoured. Instead 
of running as I should have done, I stood watching Mr. 
Buncom trying to jab them as they sprung up against the 
rock. One of the largest, the leader, scented my tracks, 
yelped once or twice, and came after me, followed by the 
entire pack, eleven in all. Lord ! how I ran. 

“ Run, Captain,” shouted Mr. Buncom, “ they are after 
you.” 

Of course I knew it without being told. When they 
were about to seize me, I threw away my hat, over which 
they began fighting. One was bit in the leg and soon as 
blood began to flow it was devoured. The leader devoured 
the hat and almost choked in swallowing it. The re- 
mainder were inclined to pitch on to it, but showed fight, 
and sprung on after me. As 1 glanced over my shoulder 
seeing them come, I beheld several fudyicks in the air 
almost overhead. How I hoped they would descend and 
seize my pursuers. I tried to take off my coat to cast it 
away, but could not doff it. Mr. Levy cut it so that it 
fitted almost tight as a dressing glove. Thanks to the 
ghost of Mr. Levy, for the coat saved my life, not many 
minutes afterwards. On came the wolves, yelping and 
raising a great cloud of dust. They were not ten yards 
behind me, when I gave a shriek of despair and stumbled 
headlong in the dust, and my heels flew up in the air. I 
felt my right foot seized before it struck the ground. I 
closed my eyes that I might not see myself torn from limb 
to limb. The next moment, the beast which had hold of 
my foot yelped as if in pain. I managed to free my foot 
with only the loss of a boot heel. I rubbed the dust from 
my eyes, and saw a fudyick rising with my would-be de- 
voured Two more rose with a wolf in each talon. Having 
seized them round the neck they were soon strangled to 
death. Five yet remained; they squatted upon their 
haunches and began howling, trying to keep off the four fud- 
yicks hovering over them. Before I can tell it, three fud- 


Narrow Escapes. 


173 


yicks darted down upon their prey. Two seized two wolves 
apiece, and the third the remaining one. The last fudyick, 
seeing there was no other prey but myself, at once began 
to attack me. I drew a revolver and tried to shoot it in the 
mouth, but could not do so. Mr. Buncom, still upon the 
rock, called for me to hazard a shot. When on the point of 
doing so, the fudyick darted down, fastened its talons in 
my coat over the shoulders, and soared away. Its claws 
went through to the skin and my shirt collar nearly choked 
me. The suspenders drew up my pants so tight as to be 
very uncomfortable. Up I went, feeling like a balloonist 
must on his first ascent. The fudyick, instead of going to 
the mountains as the others had done, circled round over 
town, at about the height of five hundred j^ards. My men 
and the savages were much excited. I saw Mr. Anderson 
with rifle in hand, and by his side stood his wife weeping. 
Why should she cry over me ? She was a woman with all 
the tenderness, affection, and modesty that characterizes 
true womanhood. Mr. Anderson aimed at the fudyick, 
and I shouted, “ For God’s sake do not shoot ; you might 
hit the wrong bird.” 

I had called myself a bird. Yes, I must have looked like 
a bird, with my legs kicking and hands clawing the air. 

“ What in the name of God can we do for you ? ” shouted 
Mr. Anderson. 

“ Give my body a burialshould I happen to be dropped.” 

“ Hadn’t you better lash yourself fast to its legs? ” in- 
quired Mr. Westman, famous for lashing himself to a spar 
when seas were rough. “For you may go overboard.” 

This was a good idea. I happened to have a small rope 
in my pocket, which I tied round its legs and then to my 
revolver belt. Now I was safe from falling, unless the 
bird fell too. Around and round the fudyick circled, 
gradually getting higher. 

“ Follow me, should I chance to be carried up in the 
mountains,” I shouted. 

“We will,” came a faint reply. 

The men below grew short — no longer than a broom 
handle. I looked again and they were the length of a 
match, and were soon out of sight. It grew chilly, and I 
began shivering. The wind generated by the bird’s wings 
augmented the cold. I began pulling feathers from its 


174 


Captain Kiddle. 

legs, doing something to keep warm. The fudyick did 
not like this at all, and tried to pick me with its beak. In 
doing so it got overbalanced, and fell downward. I do 
not know how far we descended. I brought up with a 
jerk when not very far above the earth. The claws tore 
loose from my clothes, and had it not been for the rope, I 
would have been precipitated to the ground. I was now 
above Mr. Buncom ; I saw him place his hands to his 
mouth and shout, but could not understand what he said. 
I dropped him my wallet, knowing that the contents would 
buy Imp many bottles of kidney medicine, should he reach 
home and thus spend it. I had now given up all hopes of 
life. If the cold did not chill me to death, the fudyick 
would certainly devour me on reaching its eyrie. The 
foot-hills lay beneath, and among the boulders I saw some- 
thing running, but could not make out whether it was man 
or beast till bringing my field-glass upon it, and I beheld 
Mr. Sanborn. Behind him, rifle in hand, came Mr. Ander- 
son, followed by at least twenty wolves. He did not take 
much notice of them till they were at his heels. He 
leaped upon a boulder and quick as he could discharge 
his rifle, a sixteen shot Winchester repeater, the carcasses 
of the same number of wolves were thrown among the 
boulders. He finished the remainder on reloading. Then 
he started on northwesterly, the same direction as I was 
being carried. Some of the savages, among whom was 
Bahwahgun, came up as far as where Mr. Buncom was, 
and assisted him down from the rock. Then they all laid 
in the shade of a tree. What cared they about my fate ? 
If it had been one of their kin, they would not have gone 
to hardly this much trouble. Afterward I learned that 
when a fudyick seizes a human being they consider it a 
hopeless case, and pay no further attention to the matter. 
Instead of trying to rid the land of this bane, they feed 
the fudyicks to prevent themselves from being devoured. 
The sea was now almost beneath me, and I was afraid of 
being carried out to sea and devoured upon some iceberg. 
Presently, out to sea I was rapidly borne. Around me 
circled two fudyicks, much larger than the one carrying 
me. . Pretty soon they began struggling for my possession. 
I think they are the only objects that strove desperately 
to gain possession of me except two policemen, who mis- 


Narrow Escapes. 175 

took me for a ten year-old burglar. I did not care much 
about being arrested, but mistaken for a boy of that age 
made me desperate. I called them everything bad on the 
way to the police headquarters, and shook my fist in one’s 
face. One of the fudyicks gave mine a blow on the head, 
with its beak ; blood began spurting as if an artery was 
severed. Down I went, slowly at first, and at length de- 
scended as fast as being dropped from the sky. I managed 
to grasp hold a wing where it fastens oh the body, turned 
the bird sort of edgewise, and it struck the waves on its 
side with me on top. The bird was dead, and upon the 
carcass I floated while the other two hovered round me, 
trying to pick me out from under the wing. A fudyick 
seized the carcass by the head. I placed my revolver 
under its wing and fired. It fell dead among the waves. 
Thus I made another remarkable shot. I secured the 
carcass of the one just killed, and bound it to the other one 
with the rope with which I had fastened myself to the fudy- 
ick, and they made a first-rate raft. The wind was bearing 
me landward, and I took as much comfort on my raft as Noah 
must have in his ark. A shark, the first one I had noticed 
in these waters, made a rush to swallow me, raft and all. 
I let it have a bullet in its open mouth. Its carcass came 
to the surface before long, belly up. The surviving fud- 
yick tried to carry it away, but could not raise it entirely 
out the water. Then it began an attack on me and my 
raft. It swooped down, intending to pick me off. I es- 
caped by dodging under a wing. Then it lit upon my 
raft. Its heft and my own began to sink it. I saw that 
the fudyick or I must get off, and I resolved to bust it 
with a shot. When ready to give it a shot the raft upset, 
throwing the fudyick into the water. It was a good 
swimmer for a bird of prey. I thought my best and 
quickest way of reaching land was by mounting its back, 
It was about ten feet from me when I gave a spring, and 
struck square upon its back. I believe that this was the 
best jump I ever made. My sudden landing upon its back 
frightened it, and it rose from the water. I laid down 
between its wings, in a hollow which reminded me of the 
time I used to cuddle between Mr. Buncom’s shoulders. 
This was a comfortable place, soft as feathers could make 
it. Up it flew, almost straight in the air. Its wings made 


176 


Captain Kiddle. 

the air fairly roar. I looked over, and saw that land was 
beneath me. Up and onward I went. Soon the summit 
of the highest mountain was hardly above me. How cold 
it was ! My breath made the feathers white. The feath- 
ers would not quite cover my shoulders. I pulled out 
a handful at the root of the wing, which blew away soon 
as out of m3’ hand. Upon the mountain top the fudyick 
paused to rest, and whetted its beak on a mass of ice. No 
doubt it would have liked to devour me, but I stuck fast 
to its back with the tenacity of a porous plaster. It was 
intensely cold up here amid perpetual ice and snow, and 
the weather was modified not at all by a gale. After 
resting a few minutes, I pricked the fudyick with the small 
blade of my pocket-knife. It hissed and flew onward 
toward the south, at the same time descending to where 
the air was more comfortable. I saw the valley beneath 
me, and when over town I dropped a piece of gold-bearing 
quartz that I had carried for quite a while as a specimen, 
and also a gold coin that happened to be in one of my vest 
pockets. The coin fell at Mr. Levy’s feet. He thought 
a shower of coin was about to descend and stood ready to 
pick them up. After waiting for six hours he remarked 
that the shower must have blown over. I was being car- 
ried directly south, going faster than I ever rode in a 
lightning express. Something blue lay beneath me and 
one look told that it was the sea. At sea again, and liable 
to be shipwrecked — rather birdwrecked. I tried to turn 
the fudyick about by striking it on the side the neck with 
my hand. This frightened it, and it flew more rapidly. 
Wherever it was going to take me, while on the way I 
might as well take a nap. I took off my suspenders, fast- 
ened one around the root of each wing and then to my 
revolver belt. I was now safe so long as the bird remained 
right side up. I could not sleep well for it was chilly. 
When my nap was at an end I looked over and beheld 
land beneath me. The land was level and covered mostly 
with snow. A smoke ascended from a bare spot, and by 
the aid of my glass I saw it was inhabited and that the 
people looked white. At first I wished myself among them, 
but the land presented such a dismal aspect, I was thank- 
ful for being thus far from it. I believe the fudyick in- 
tended to alight, for it began circling. I jabbed it on the 


177 


Narrow Escapes. 

rump with my pocket-knife. It turned about and flew 
homeward. I had discovered something very important : 
a way of steering the bird. When I wanted to turn it 
round, all I had to do was prick its rump. Faster than 
the wind I went. After five hours’ time the mountains 
came in sight. At the end of another hour I w r as over 
town again. The land I saw, according to the flight of 
the bird, which flew at least eighty miles an hour, lay over 
four hundred miles to the south. I was now close to one 
thousand feet above town, and could hear the shouts of 
those below. I heard Mr. Buncom’s voice ring out, say- 
ing, “Captain, are you aboard that bird? ” 

I put my head over in front a wing and shouted, “ I am, 
and am captain of this aerial ship. I am about to make a 
voyage to the moon.” 

The fudyick, now almost exhausted, flew to the foot- 
hills at the west, and lit upon the crest of the next highest 
hill. This hill, cone-shaped, was very precipitous. Not a 
shrub grew upon its bare sides, too steep for loose stone to 
remain thereon. I gave the bird a jab, but it did not 
move. To my surprise, I saw it was dead, having flown 
till it dropped here to expire. How I was to get down I 
did not know. On the south side was a small gully, more 
like a groove, made probably by a cloud-burst or something 
of that sort. At length I concluded to slide down it. I 
rolled the bird over on its back with head pointing down- 
ward, then I got upon the bust and held up the huge neck. 
I pushed myself off a small flat rock, and glided down like 
a tobogganer on a good cruise. The friction caused by 
the descent singed the feathers, engendering a disagreeable 
odor. Think it was close to fifteen hundred feet that I 
descended, the incline being of about forty-five degrees. 
Then I came to a narrow place where the carcass stuck 
fast, and here the incline ended. I looked over the brink 
and beheld a perpendicular descent of five hundred feet. I 
could not possibly ascend to the summit again. Even if it 
were possible for me to get up there, my situation would 
not have been ameliorated in the least. To drop over 
the brink into the chasm meant death, and to remain 
here meant death also. While wondering what I should 
do I heard Mr. Sanborn calling, “ Oh, massa ! ” I leaned 
forward to see his whereabouts, and slid off the fudyick. 

12 


178 Captain Kiddle. 

Fortunately my hands, holding on the neck, did not relin- 
quish their hold. There I swung to and fro like the pen- 
dulum to a clock, with jagged rocks five hundred feet be- 
neath me, holding to the neck of a bird. In front of me (I 
faced the south) upon the end of the horn of a large anvil- 
shaped rock, fifty feet below me and about the same num- 
ber of feet in front of me, sat Mr. Sanborn with arms out- 
stretched, saying, “Jump, Massa.” 

“ I can never make it.” 

“ Dat am your only chance, Massa.” 

I could not hang this way long, for my strength was 
fast giving way. 

“ It is life or death,” said I, “but one hundred chances 
in favor of the latter.” 

I began swinging back and forth, and when going for- 
ward the third time I sprung with my utmost strength, 
letting go at the same time. The next instant Mr. San- 
born grasped me by the shirt bosom and exclaimed, 
“ Bress God, Massa am saved ! ” 

I heard a thud on the rocks below us ; the carcass had 
fallen and was dashed to pieces. Had I swung back and 
forth a single time more I would have gone with it. The 
horn was so narrow that I became dizzy. Mr. Sanborn 
turned round and bade me get upon his shoulders, which 
I did. At the height of four hundred and fifty feet, with 
a course not one yard wide, and with myself upon his 
back, Mr. Sanborn walked along with as much ease as if 
upon a street. Our descent from the Anvil, as I call this 
rock, was slow and dangerous. There was a slide of about 
ninety feet, not very steep. I slid down it, feet foremost, 
and reached the bottom minus the seat of my pants. 
Mr. Sanborn came down head first, and struck his head 
against a rock at the bottom. He scratched his woolly 
pate and remarked that his skull was hard. We reached 
the base of the hill in safety, where we found Mr. Ander- 
son with the carcasses of fifty wolves piled up before him. 
I gazed a moment upon the ghastly heap, and said, “ Mr. 
Anderson, I am agreeably surprised at your success as a 
hunter.” 

“And so I am at yours as an air navigator. Yours was 
one of the most remarkable flights ever made by man. 
You have outdone Icar.” 


Narro'id Escapes. 179 

“ Thanks for the compliment. I think you have ex- 
celled Nimrod.” 

“ To-day I have killed one hundred wolves, and I think 
there are not many left.” 

“ I must have visited the land of your wife and her an- 
cestors, and I do not like it half so well as this.” 

“ Well, some day we will compel old Bahwahgun and 
his gang to leave here or give the fudyicks a feast on their 
carcasses.” 

While we were conversing Mr. Sanborn began skinning 
wolves, and after taking off six skins we started home- 
ward. He tanned the skins and made an excellent suit of 
them. 


180 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

BUNCOM FALLS AND KIDDLE’S TREE. 

During the week following my Icarian flight I was bed- 
ridden most the time, suffering from nervous prostration 
brought on by the perils I passed through. Ever since we 
landed I wanted to visit a waterfall. As you will remem- 
ber, I stated of hearing its roar before setting foot upon 
land. By special permission from Bahwahgun, Mr. San- 
born was to be one of the party to visit the falls. The 
party consisted of Mr. Buncom, Anderson and wife, San- 
born, myself, Lib as cook, Bahwahgun and three wives. 
I believe I have not yet stated the number of wives he had 
— eighteen — one more than Brigham Young. He believed 
in moderation in all things, and therefore was moderate in 
his number of wives. His father before him was more 
like King Solomon, and counted his by the thousand. It 
was a beautiful morning when we set forth. Birds of 
song sang like those of a tropical climate. Flowers from 
out the bosom of the earth bloomed on every hand. We 
passed up the same gulch as on the way to the furnace. I 
named this gulch Anderson’s Gulch, in honor of the dis- 
coverer of gold in it. We followed the same course till 
reaching the stairway to the furnace, and then turned due 
east, among the sylvan foot-hills, and at the upper end of 
them is the cataract. By motions I tried to get Bahwah- 
gun to tell me something about this wonder. He made 
me understand that neither he nor any of his tribe had 
ever been there. Mrs. Anderson knew nothing about it* 
except that it was a mighty waterfall. I knew that much 
myself by its roar. She stated that tradition placed its 
origin at the time of the great earthquake. These foot- 
hills, as I have stated, are forest-clad. Tall, luxuriant 
species of grasses covered the ground where the forest did 
not shade it. The forest itself was gigantic and old. The 
ground was literally covered with dead and decaying tree 
trunks. Soon as we entered it I saw that it abounded with 


Buncom Falls at Kiddle s Tree . ^ 181 

game. Deer were plentiful, large and fat. A drove, num- 
bering above one hundred, sprung up at our feet and 
dashed through the forest. One, however, was brought to 
the ground by a ball from Mr. Anderson’s unerring rifle. 
He cut out a hind-quarter, which Lib carried along to pre- 
pare for a meal. No sooner had we left the spot before a 
bear, a sort of cross between the polar and grizzly, made 
off with the remainder of the carcass. I ached to get in 
one of my remarkable shots, but no opportunity presented 
itself. By the levelness of the course we followed, I saw 
that it was once a roadway. Great trees were now grow- 
ing upon it, nearly obliterating it. We crossed a small 
stream, dammed by rock, fragments, no doubt, of a stone 
bridge. Against the rock driftwood and rubbish had 
lodged, making a watertight dam. Just below it we 
crossed over upon the trunk of a tree, of about nine feet in 
diameter, worn flat by the crossing and recrossing of wild 
beasts that did not care to ford the stream. Then we as- 
cended a steep hill, round which the road ran. In doing 
this we cut off at least three miles. At one time there was 
a foot-path over this hill, but now wholly obliterated ex- 
cept where it wound round a large rock. On reaching the 
roadway, we beheld two bears beside a great hollow, from 
which they had egressed on hearing our voices. Mr. An- 
derson leveled his rifle to bring one of them down, but 
Bahwahgun motioned for him not to shoot. Bahwahgun 
laid down his arms in the roadway and went straight up to 
the bears. 

“What does he mean?” asked Mr. Anderson of me. 

“ Perhaps he wants to die, and has chosen this way of 
ending himself.” 

“ It is rather a strange way of suiciding.” 

“ Every nation has its own favorite way of seeking 
death.” 

When Bahwahgun was close upon the bears, one of them 
rose upon its haunches and growled savagely. He smote 
his breast and shouted his name, the same as when we first 
made an acquaintance with his royal highness. The bear 
thrust out a paw, and I thought Bahwahgun intended to 
shake hands with it. He seized bruin by the nape of the 
neck and jerked it flat upon the ground. With the other 
hand he grasped hold of its rump and held it above his 


182 


Captain Kiddle. 

head as high as his arms would reach. The bear growled 
and clawed at the air. The grim old savage’s herculean 
strength astonished us. I never thought it possible for a 
human being to hold aloft such an enormous weight — fif- 
teen hundred pounds, at the least calculation. He walked 
up to the other bear that had moved on about twenty-five 
yards, and was squatted upon its haunches ready for fight. 
With a whoop that echoed through the forest, he brought 
the bear down on the other one, crushing the life out of 
them both. Thus he killed, as it is termed, “two birds 
with one stone.” This wonderful display of strength and 
courage made Mr. Sanborn turn an ashy color under his 
black hide. Mr. Sanborn took off their skins, hung them 
upon a sapling, and took them home when we returned. 
The roar of falling water was now so loud that we had to 
shout in order to make each other understand a word. On 
following the road for a little over a mile and one half 
northerly, we came in sight of the falls, half a mile further 
cn. I was astonished at the first sight of Niagara Falls, 
amazed at the Yosemite Falls, but at the sight of these, 
which I named Buncom Falls, I was both astonished and 
amazed. Over a perpendicular precipice of purest marble, 
finer than any Italian marble, one thousand and six feet, 
leaped a clear sheet of water, one half mile wide and six 
feet deep. The deep, heavy roar shook the earth, and iris- 
colored spray drenched the ground and forest for a mile 
every way. Down fell the water in an unbroken column. 
There was no swaying of it by the wind, as the water of 
the Yosemite Falls is swayed, breaking it up entirely. 
Below, where the column fell, mighty billows rose, boiled, 
hissed, foamed, rolled over each other, broke asunder, col- 
lided their fragments together, sprung into the air, to boil, 
roar, hiss and foam with renewed energy. It almost made 
me believe that some fire, fierce and extensive as those of 
hell, which the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher has sort of 
quenched by his new-fangled way of reasoning, lay beneath 
a great kettle holding this water, to deluge the earth with 
hot water. After this awful leap, in which the water 
seemed to murder itself, it lay dead in the channel. The 
tide came up to the foot of the falls, high tide claiming 
twelve feet of water here. A pleasure party in perfect 


Buncom Falls and Kiddle's Tree. 183 

safety could venture up to the very foot of the falls. 

Said Mr. Anderson, with a little of Mr. Levy’s keen in- 
sight for gain, “ I intend to locate these falls, and erect an 
hotel for the accommodation of pleasure-seekers. This 
is greater than any of the seven wonders of the 
world.” 

“ All the pleasure-seekers you could expect are these 
savages, and I think it would not be a success financially.” 

“But the time is not far distant when this will become 
a valuable piece of property, as no doubt it was once, in 
the remote past.” 

The road ran along a few feet above flood tide, at the 
base of a perpendicular wall, high as the falls. In the 
lapse of unknown centuries the falls have worn away the 
almost unyielding marble, back one half a mile. We now 
brought up to the mouth of a tunnel, twenty feet wide, 
and ten feet high. The roof came to a sharp peak like 
that of a church. Just before entering the tunnel I pick- 
ed up a stick lying in the road, of about the size and 
shape of a common base-ball bat, thinking it would be 
useful in groping my way along in the darkness. I lit a 
match to examine the tunnel and the stick instantly took 
fire like a gas-jet, and burned with the brilliancy of one. 
Mr. Anderson went back and gathered up an armful of 
this peculiar deflagrant wood, which I named torchwood. 
The tree from which it comes grows upon the mountain- 
side, resembles mountain mahogony, and is harder and 
more heavy. In the walls or roof I could not detect the 
slightest seam. They were smooth, polished, and shone 
like a mirror. I looked for an inscription by which I 
might conjecture what sort of a people excavated it, and 
to my joy I found one about midway the tunnel on the 
left-hand wall. I called Mrs. Anderson’s attention to it, 
hoping she might translate it, but it was as unintelligible 
as Chinese to me. She said it was inscribed by one of her 
own race, whose vocation was to make inscriptions, intel- 
ligible to only a few, as knowledge was attained by those 
only selected to perpetuate their most important events. 
The below is a fac-simile of the inscription, one-tenth its 
original size. 


184 


Captain Kiddle. 


T$ 

'^kCr^db r^ %*-* ~f" 

Ji In c0l -££ Uf fl /U 

^ ^b ^V ^ <& CGT ^ 

oy? ^ ^ (AA? 

cv^V^ k ^ ^ 

Jgjj/, j£ 4y J3. c * 



I hope that somebody may be able to translate it. The 
tunnel is little less than half a mile long and ends behind 
the descending column of water. The water in falling 
does not strike the face of the precipice at the bottom 
within one hundred feet, and there is a space in behind 
similar to that of Niagara Falls, where a person can -pass, 
along in safety. 

Said Mr. Anderson, “I have a good mind to try to reach 
the other side by going under the falls.” 

“I do not think it could be done, and I advise you not 
to try it.” 


Buncom Falls and Kiddle’s Tree. 


185 


“ I am going to try it, anyhow ; and if you like, follow 
me.” 

Mr. Anderson started and I after him, and after me came 
Bahwahgun who soon turned back. When in one hun- 
dred and twenty feet we entered a tunnel. Originally it 
was all a tunnel, but the water had worn away from it 
the number of feet I just stated. I was glad to enter the 
tunnel for the spray had wet me to the skin. This tun- 
nel was precisely of the same dimensions as the one we 
had just passed through. After a ten minutes’ walk we 
came out on the other side. I could not see what use 
these tunnels were. On this side there is a broad road- 
way extending down stream to level ground one mile be- 
low. We went down this road and where the gorge ends 
we saw that a city once stood here. 

“ This,” said Mr. Anderson, “ must have been the main 
thoroughfare from Bahwahguntown to this city.” 

This solved the tunnel problem, but I thought it strange 
they did not bridge the river. This soon became ob- 
vious. The water in falling had furrowed out a channel 
of unknown depth, making it impossible to put in stone 
piers. In this remote age the suspension bridge was un- 
known. 

Amid the ruins that extend back for miles grew 
large forest trees. Here and there grew a live oak. A 
species of pine resembling Oregon pine, excellent for ship- 
building, grew in abundance. 

“Captain, here is a first-class place for ship-building. 
Suppose that we try our hand at building a boat ? ” 

“You will need a boat,” replied I jocosely, “to bring 
tourists here after your hotel is finished.” 

“ No, I have not got that far along yet. How are we 
ever going to escape unless we make an effort?” 

« You are right. I will manage somehow or other to get 
the carpenter liberated, even if I have to enslave my- 
self.” 

“ No, Captain, if it comes to that I will stick my head 
through the yoke.” 

“ Your services are as important as the carpenter’s. He 
knows not how to begin a boat and I am equally as igno- 
rant.” 

Mr. Anderson was as good a workman as Mr. Leguna, 


186 Captain Kiddle. 

and besides he had a first-class knowledge of ship-building. 
After we concluded to open a shipyard here, we turned 
back. At the edge of the precipice over which the water 
fell I noticed a deep cut resembling a stairway. On 
getting closer I saw it was a stairway. When we reached 
it I measured it, and it was fifty feet wide, twelve inches 
to the step, and at half pitch. We began ascending the 
flight and it took a long while to reach the top. When 
we got on top, at our right I saw a tableland of about 
seven miles square. Above the falls the water was com- 
paratively still, and looked deep and sullen. There was 
something treacherous about it, and it reminded me of a 
desperado planning a bloody deed. W e went up the river 
three-fourths of a mile, and here there was quite a current, 
and we heard the roar of rushing waters. 

“ Another waterfall, I suppose,” said Mr. Anderson. 

44 1 do not think so, for we could see it.” 

One mile further ahead rose a foot-hill, lying next to the 
great mountain. The mountain’s granite face rose to about 
twice the height of the waterfall, and was almost perpen- 
dicular. Here and there upon a little shelf grew a cedar, 
and ferns peered out from small crevices in the face. The 
forest was gigantic and I saw a tree close to the water’s 
edge of about twenty feet in diameter, nearly two hundred 
feet tall, with scarcely a limb on its smooth trunk. While 
I was measuring this tree Mr. Anderson turned off into 
the forest, and returned as I was about to call him. 

44 Captain, I wish to show you something that beats the 
big trees of California all hollow.” 

I followed him ; we went down a ravine, descending 
probably five hundred feet. The descent was easy as there 
were no abrupt places. At the bottom on a small flat, tow- 
ering like a mountain was a tree that I almost took to be 
a ligneous mountain. I could not believe my eyes. Mr. 
Anderson began pacing round it and I followed on. It 
seemed to me I had started out on a walking— rather a 
pacing match. It was fully half an hour before I reached 
the starting point. I counted four hundred paces, but 
could not believe that I had made a mistake, and I asked 
Mr. Anderson how many paces he made of it. 

44 Three hundred and ninety-nine,” replied he. 

He was long legged, and may have stepped an ace fur- 


Buncom Falls and Kiddle s Tree. 187 

ther at a time than myself, but that was near enough, 
therefore the tree was twelve hundred feet in circumfer- 
ence, at the top of the ground. It stooled considerably. 
Thirty feet above ground it would measure nine hundred 
feet round it. If felled at this point, the stump would be 
three hundred feet across. It was at least one thousand 
feet tall, perfectly straight, with hardly any limbs at all. 

“ This forest Titan ought to bear the name of some dis- 
tinguished person,” said I. 

4 * Yes, and I have a good name for it.” 

“ What is it ? ” 

“ Captain Kiddle.” 

“ Pshaw ! what is there remarkable about that name ? ” 

“ Something very.” 

“ W ell, what is it ? ” 

“ Discoverer of the North Pole.” 

That was a fact, and my pride rose a little, for I imag- 
ined I heard a fair schoolma’am ask a class of urchins, 
beginning the study of Geography, who discovered the 
North Pole. They all answered in concert, Captain John 
Digger Kiddle.” 

There is something in a name after all. 

“ However, we will call it,” continued I, “ Kiddle’s Tree.” 

Then we ascended the ravine, and when up on level 
ground said I to Mr. Anderson, who had started homeward* 
“ Let us see where this water comes from.” 

We followed a road up the river, and it began getting 
quite steep. The river was foam-covered and had a strong 
undercurrent. The stream was not one-fourth as wide 
here as at the falls. From the top of a small hill, we be- 
held this mighty stream shooting forth from a round hole 
at the base of the perpendicular wall. The hole did not 
look more than two hundred feet across it. The water 
came forth with terrific force. I never saw anything to 
compare with it. A stream from the nozzle of the largest 
mining hydraulic giant resembled it on the smallest scale. 
It was my opinion there must be a huge reservoir thou- 
sands of feet up in the mountains, supplied by never-failing 
springs, feeding this mysterious river. Or did it come from 
the bowels of the earth, borne up by some mysterious force ? 
My first theory was correct, and I will tell anon how I de- 
monstrated it. Mr. Anderson cast a stone in the water. 


188 Captain Kiddle. 

.and the next instant we got a glimpse of something whirl- 
ing through the air which lit in the forest below the falls. 
I could not believe it was the stone, and cast one in myself, 
and I saw an object go straight over the falls. 

“This would make a first-rate siege-gun,” said I. 

“Yes, and we may need it for such. A person cannot 
tell what may turn up. 

True enough, after a while we did need it, and it did 
splendid execution, of which I will speak later on. We 
rolled in a boulder weighing about half a ton. It also 
went straight over the falls and fell, as near as I could 
judge, one mile below them. We rolled in one more ; this 
weighed nearly a ton. It shot into the forest and fell in 
the neighborhood of Kiddle’s Tree. There was an abun- 
dance of boulders here and I should not have wearied in 
spending hours experimenting with the siege-gun, as we 
called it. We turned homeward and at the head of the 
stairway met Mrs. Anderson. She had refreshed her mem- 
ory concerning traditional lore and told us the stairway 
was made to connect the city that stood where we con- 
cluded to start a ship-yard with tide city beyond the moun- 
tains. She thought a portion of the road was destroyed, 
by the sea washing away a bluff round which it ran. She 
was right, as afterwards I passed over this road. I asked 
her concerning Kiddle's Tree, and she said it was a large 
tree when the mines were first opened — more than three 
thousand years ago. She said that the city below us 
was where all the ships were made, and it was the first 
place that the savages took. I asked if she knew any- 
thing about the siege-gun. She replied it was used for 
hurling stones at the enemy when the city was taken, and 
that a great many boats were sunk by it. 

“ The enemy considered it the work of an evil spirit,” 
she said, in good English. I was surprised how soon she 
had mastered our language. Before the last sentence, she 
had spoken through her husband. When we arrived on 
the other side the falls we found Mr. Sanborn in a fright- 
ened state. He thought the stones were Mr. Anderson and 
I hurled through the air. Bahwahgun and his wives joined 
us at the end of the tunnel. When we reached the spot 
where the bears were killed, we saw that something had 
devoured the carcasses. There was a sort of a hollow made 


Buncom Falls at Kiddle's Tree. 


189 


in the ground, as if the largest kind of a saw log had been 
snaked along. This curious course crossed the road going 
down toward the sea. Mrs. Anderson on observing it 
began running and screaming. I followed after her and her 
husband did not quicken his pace the least. He shouted, 
asking what was the matter, and she replied in her natal 
tongue. I heard him remark, “ Oh, is that all.” 

“ Mr. Anderson, what is it ? ” inquired I, stopping to take 
breath. 

She said that a sea-serpent* devoured the carcasses and 
that it would attack us on sight.” 

“ Ah, a sea serpent ; and it must be amphibious.” 

I quickened my pace again. Mr. Sanborn, loaded down 
with bear-skins, imagined he saw the serpent, gave a howl, 
and outran us all. I did not see him again till after reach- 
ing home. On coming down Anderson’s Gulch we exam- 
ined the gravel and found it to be full of gold. Mr. An- 
derson scooped a small hole in the gravel with the butt of 
his rifle, and unearthed a nugget weighing ninety odd 
pounds. The greed of gold had taken possession of me 
for the first time, and I said, “We must have a mining 
force as well as a shipbuilding one.” 

“ But how can we ? ” 

“ We must make proper arrangements this evening.” 

I did not take the nugget along, but re-covered it. When 
arriving home Lib had supper ready. He returned home 
when Mr. Anderson and I crossed under the falls. Bah- 
wahgim and his three wives dined with us. I noticed that 
one of the ladies admired Mr. Sanborn, who dined with us 
also. Ilis black glossy skin was much admired by the 
female element. When he went to the field or returned 
home every female was out staring at him. When he came 
out with his wolf-skin suit on, two days after our visit to 
the falls, they tried to tear it off. This made him angry 
and he butted four of them in the stomach. They waited 
in vain, hoping to get another look at his black skin. 


190 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XIX. 

WE BUILD A BOAT. 

The whole Grew was assembled at the Purple X House, 
more or less low spirited over the enslavement. The car- 
penter recently had trouble with Bagwahgun in building 
the doorway. His Royal Highness wanted it the same as 
all the rest. Before issuing this edict the carpenter made 
it after the fashion we use. At this Bahwahgun was 
greatly dissatisfied. Then the carpenter got it a little too 
low. Bahwahgun could not kick his way through at all. 
It was changed and made that much too large, and at last 
it was made to suit. According to Bahwahgun’s idea of 
farming, Mr. Sanborn was not carrying on the farm satis- 
factorily, allowing the wheat to get too ripe before har- 
vesting. Bahwahgun was a fair agriculturist with just 
enough ambition for a peerless Dakota Squatter. Worse 
than these faults was slavery. But what could we do but 
submit? If we attempted to escape, Bahwahgun would 
have retaken us, for he had a fugitive slave law, the pen- 
alty of which was death by the furnace. He was liable 
when in a fit of anger to take us up, one at a time, and 
dash our brains out like he did the bears/ I believe he 
thus killed the bears to show us his herculanean strength, 
which had great influence over us, especially me. Should 
I attempt to escape and make a failure, I would die fight- 
ing to the last breath, for it would be death anyhow. 
After a silence painful to me, said I, to break the monot- 
ony, if nothing more, “ Men, what is our condition ? ” 

“ Enslaved,” they answered in concert, with the excep- 
tion of Lib, who, enjoying himself well, replied, “ Bellee 
good.” 

“ That will do, you lop-eared, pig-tailed, heeless-shoed 
heathen,” growled Mr. Anderson. 

“ What can we do for ourselves ? ” 

“ Nothing ! ” they replied, except Mr. Anderson, who 


We Build a Boat. 


191 


shouted, “Build a boat and leave the infernal place.” 

“ Do you hear this suggestion ? ” said I, nodding to the 
men. 

“We do.” 

“ What do you think of it? ” 

“ An impossibility.” 

“Nothing is impossible in this world,” remarked Mr. 
Buncom demurely, “ for I have demonstrated it time and 
time again.” 

“ How ? ” inquired half a dozen voices. 

\“By keeping Imp supplied with kidney medicine. I 
always managed to get it, somehow or other, whether I had 
a cent or not.” 

We took a hearty laugh, and I think Mr. Buncom 
thought we were making light of him, as his face became 
red with anger. 

I still continued to occupy the speaker’s stand. “Well, 
men, what about a boat ?” 

“We will build one,” said Mr. Anderson, holding his 
hands aloft. “ With these hands I will build a boat and a 
good one at that.” 

“With these hands I will help too,” said the carpenter, 
stretching his hands ; and on drawing them in remarked, 
“ I will if possible,” I saw a great gap under Mr. Levy’s 
nose, which grew wider and wider with grins, and from the 
gap came a voice saying : “ Gentlemen, here is Mr. Solomon 
Levy, a great ship-builder, whose ancestors constructed 
King Solomon’s fleet that sailed to the land of Ophir. He, 
like his ancestors, possesses remarkable skill in this impor- 
tant branch of industry. Mr. Solomon Levy, a great ship- 
builder, on account of business being rather slack at pres- 
ent, offers his services to you gentlemen, cheap as a second- 
hand suit of clothes. For one hundred pounds of gold, 
gentlemen, Mr. Solomon Levy, a great ship-builder, will 
built a boat sixty feet long, eighteen foot beam, schooner 
rigged.” 

“ What if Mr. Solomon Levy should desire to leave about 
the time we went?” inquired I. 

“ Mr. Solomon Levy would just step aboard and go too.” 

“About the time Mr. Solomon Levy stepped aboard he 
would find himself in the water,” said Mr. Anderson. “If 
you do not think enough of liberty to assist us gratis, in 


1 92 Captain Kiddle. 

the undertaking we are about to commence, you can stay 
here.” 

44 We’ll see that he does,” said all. 

He muttered something and shrunk back in a corner. 

44 Gentlemen, is it the understanding that we are to con- 
struct a boat for the purpose of escaping? All who are 
willing to give your assistance if possible, and life too, if 
necessary, which God forbid, in carrying out our undertak- 
ing, let them step forward and grasp my hand.” 

Mr. Buncom was the first to come forward ; he extended 
both hands and said, 44 Captain, I want both hands on this 
proposition.” 

I gave him both hands. Next was Mr. Anderson, who 
grasped my hands, and gave my arms such a jerk that they 
cracked. The carpenter came next and shook hands as 
gently as if I were a donna. The sailors followed, one 
after another, expressing almost as much enthusiasm as Mr. 
Anderson. Then came Mr. Sanborn, brave soul ; he al- 
most jerked my arms out of their sockets, embraced me 
with a bear-like hug and then wanted to bump skulls. He 
thought the best way of taking a pledge was to bump heads 
together. Mr. Lev}^ placed the five fingers of the left 
hand in the palm of my right hand and made a faint at- 
tempt to shake hands, but I withdrew my hand and said, 
44 Never mind, Mr. Levy.” 

44 What ! ashamed to shake hands with Mr. Solomon Levy, 
a noble-hearted Jew, ready to spend his last dollar and even 
to lay down his life that you may escape ! Mr. Solomon 
Levy is such a philanthropist that he cares not what be- 
comes of himself so long as he is sure of making somebody 
happy.” 

Lib shook hands, rather jerked my arms, and then asked 
for a chicken that he might cut off its head, making the 
pledge insoluble. The Esquimau grasped me round the 
knees, and began shaking my legs. The men left in much 
better spirits. When the builders turned out for their daily 
toil the carpenter was wanting, he had remained in doors 
feigning sickness. Bahwaligun called on him and ascer- 
tained the cause of his non-appearance. Presently one of 
his Royal Highness’ wives, either number twelve or thir- 
teen, came in with a horned toad and bade him swallow it 
alive. The toad resembled the horned toads found in the 


We Build a Boat. 


198 


arid portions of the Pacific coast. The carpenter’s illness 
vanished and he came forth to work, relieving Mr. Buncom 
who was at work in his stead. As the carpenter was fore- 
man and did not make his appearance when work began, 
Mr. Levy took the foremanship. What a foreman he made. 
Never did a negro driver of a southern plantation crowd his 
darkies as Mr. Levy did the men. This gave Bahwahgun 
complete satisfaction, and I was afraid he would honor Mr. 
Levy with a Purple X, but the old savage would do noth- 
ing of the sort. When the carpenter went to take charge 
of the men Mr. Levy would not step aside. He was such 
a poor hand as a laborer, under the circumstances, that Bah- 
wahgun made him understand that he had better go to bed 
and stay there. Bahwahgun marked him on the forehead 
with blood from a small reptile he killed ; this was a mark 
of deep disgrace, though it gave him his freedom. A war- 
rior receiving this mark invariably drowns himself. Before 
we could begin a boat, we had to have tools to work with. 
The carpenter had saved a broad-axe from his chest of tools, 
and this was all we had to begin with. We had five cut- 
lasses which the carpenter said would make a saw apiece, 
and that he would have no difficulty in working them over 
providing the furnace heated the steel to the right tempera- 
ture. I will remark here that the carpenter was a first- 
class blacksmith ; one of the finest tool temperers I ever 
saw. He could make almost any sort of tool, and if an 
edged one, shave himself with it when finished. He said 
that a hammer was the first thing to make, though he did 
not make it first. One of the rifle barrels, portion of our 
stove, would make a first-rate hammer. The following day 
the carpenter, Mr. Anderson, and myself departed for the 
furnace, taking along two cutlasses, a rifle barrel, and broad 
axe. The broad axe was to beat the rifle barrel into a 
hammer. On reaching the furnace we found it inactive. 
The carpenter placed a cutlass over the fire hole and a 
small stone upon the handle to keep it from falling in. He 
tied a line to the handle so he could draw it out when hot 
enough. Mr. Anderson brought a hard flat stone which 
would answer for an anvil. We were now ready, but the 
fire came not. 

44 It would be just our luck,” said the carpenter, 44 to 
come the very day there is no fire.” 


194 


Captain Kiddle. 


“ Perhaps so,” replied I. 44 When a cool spring is at our 
feet, with a freezing sky over us, we know not its value, 
but when the sky burns and we have come from afar over 
a desert land, we know its worth.” 

Then I heard a rumble, the ground trembled as if agitat- 
ed by a slight earthquake, and the next instant the flames 
shot upward. The carpenter lay flat upon the stomach 
about two rods away, that was as near as the heat would 
permit, looking into the flames. The string began scorch- 
ing, and I was afraid it would burn in two. With a jerk 
he drew the cutlass from the fire almost white hot. 

“It is a first-class heat,” said he, striking it with the 
head of the axe. He struck fast and with great precision. 
On finishing it, he had a saw blade a little smaller than 
that of a common handsaw, and smooth as if rolled. 

44 That is a beauty,” said Mr. Anderson stooping to pick 
it up, not thinking it was hot, and it scorched his fingers. 
44 If it was not such a perfect piece of workmanship do you 
know where I would wish it ? ” 

44 In a place far hotter than the furnace.” 

44 Captain you are good at guessing,” remarked he, hold- 
ing his scorched fingers to his mouth, trying to cool them 
with his breath. 

44 Captain, have you a file, a three-cornered one ? ” in- 
quired the carpenter. 

44 1 am not positive, though I think there is one some- 
where about the Purple X House. I heard Mr. Bun com 
asking for one not long ago, to file away the corner of a tooth 
that came down on his tongue pretty often, each time leav- 
ing its mark.” 

44 Wasn’t that before we were wrecked?” inquired Mr. 
Anderson. 44 If I am not greatly mistaken it was.” 

44 No, I think it was about the beginning of our first starv- 
ing period.” 

44 You are right, Captain. I now remember of using 
it trying to fix one of my suspender buckles.” 

44 After I have given this a set of teeth I will temper it,” 
said the carpenter, scrutinizing his work. 

The flames had died away, and the carpenter fixed the 
other cutlass over the fire hole. The string was about 
worthless. 

44 It might last,” remarked the carpenter ; 44 if not, I 


We Build a Boat. 


195 


will have to crawl up and take it out with my hands.” 

“ Do not attempt it, for you would be consumed or 
roasted to death in less time than it takes to admonish 
you.” 

The flames burst forth again. The cutlass was not 
fastened securely. Up it went, whirling end over end. It 
came down between Mr. Anderson and myself, going into 
the ground, which happened to be free of stone, up to the 
hilt. I began running, and how foolish, as the danger 
was over. It was like jumping at a thunderbolt after 
seeing the lightning flash. The carpenter pulled the cut- 
lass out, and it was bent half double. 

“Wait till I go below; perhaps I can find something 
that will answer for tongs.” 

I descended into the cavern, and close to the ore pile I 
found a pair of tongs with slim handles twenty feet long. 
I shouldered them and returned. 

“What do you think of my find?” 

“ It is more valuable to us now than a gold mine,” re- 
plied the carpenter. 

When the flames came again the cutlass was thrust in, 
held with the tongs. The carpenter held to the end of 
the tongs till his mustache began singeing. Then he with- 
drew the cutlass and beat it into a saw-blade superior to 
the other one. 

“ Now for a hammer,” he remarked. 

“ Perhaps I can find one below. Come, Mr. Anderson, 
we will go and look.” 

We searched, but found nothing in shape of the object 
wanted. The rifle barrel was put in the flames, and it was 
longer in heating than a cutlass. The carpenter had con- 
siderable difficulty in doubling it up. After two hours of 
heating and pounding it was finished except the eye. 

“ How are you going to make the eye ?” I asked. 

“ Punch it, providing I can make a punch.” 

“ Do you think a hole could be shot through it ? ” in- 
quired Mr. Anderson. 

“ Possibly, if a person could shoot accurately enough,” 
replied the carpenter. 

“ Mark out the size of the eye and I will try it. Cap- 
tain, give me a revolver.” 

“ It will have to be heated as hot as it will stand.” 


196 


Captain Kiddie . 

I gave Mr. Anderson a revolver and the carpenter placed 
the hammer in the furnace. 

“ It is hot now, make ready ! ” 

He drew it forth, a white, coruscating mass, which I 
thought about ready to melt, stood it on end upon the 
anvil, holding on the upper portion with the tongs. Mr. 
Anderson lay flat on the stomach ten paces off. He placed 
himself in this attitude so as to be on a level with the 
hammer, that the balls would penetrate it straight. One 
shot rang out, and five more in as quick succession as he 
could discharge the weapon. 

“I will bet almost anything he never hit it at all, ,, said 
the carpenter. 

“ I will bet he did,” replied I, though I was of the same 
opinion as the carpenter. 

“ Well, I declare, if that doesn’t beat the best shots on 
record,” said the carpenter, holding up the hammer with a 
three-quarter inch hole through the center, smooth as if 
bored. 

“ Captain, how would you like to duel with me ? ” in- 
quired Mr. Anderson jocosely. 

“ My chances of escaping death would be as small as if 
hung in those flames for twenty-five hours.” 

The hammer was double-faced, inch and a hali across 
the face, four inches long, bulging in the middle, and 
weighed three pounds. 

“Now we have a hammer, saws, and broad-axe; and 
what other tools are needed?” I asked the carpenter. 

“Pole axes for cutting down timber, adz, chisels, 
squares, planes, augers, and a great many more. I could 
make the most of them if I had the material.” 

“ There is plenty of iron somewhere, from which the 
savages make their spear-heads.” 

“ Couldn't we get a few heads from old Bahwahgun ? ” 
inquired Mr. Anderson. 

“We might possibly ; how are you at bartering ? ” 

“ Pretty good.” 

“We will return now. The carpenter and I will teeth 
the saw-blades, and you see what can be done about spear- 
heads.” 

“We will have some whether Bahwahgun likes it or 
not,” said the carpenter. 


We Build a Boat . 


197 


“ Do not touch a single head unless he is willing, for he 
might get angry and make spear-heads of us.” 

“No danger of that,” put in Mr. Anderson. 

“ Before reaching home we saw Mr. Buncom coming to 
meet us. I saw by the smiles that ran athwart his broad 
countenance that he had good tidings. In each hand he 
carried four spear-heads. 

u Captain,” said he, “ I have been bartering to-day. I 
knew that these (holding up the heads) would be valuable 
for tool-making.” 

“ What did you exchange for them ? ” 

“ An article that I prize almost as dearly as my life.” 

“ Poor fellow ! Have you exchanged your Purple X, 
selling yourself into slavery ? ” 

“ No.” 

“ Would you tell us what? ” 

“ Imp’s photograph,” said lie, with tears in his eyes. 

“ Imp’s photograph ! ” replied I, in astonishment. “ Who 
could have thought that valuable ? ” 

“Besides these,” continued he, “I have sixteen more, 
making in all twenty -four.” 

I took one of the heads to ascertain its weight — about 
ten pounds. We were in possession of over two hundred 
pounds of finest steel. I soon perceived that the exchange 
did not suit the savages, especially those, six of them, who 
had almost roasted themselves in making tlfe heads. 
Bahwahgun came, and by signs told me that he got the 
worst end of the bargain. He had Imp’s photograph 
fastened by a string round his neck. I tried to make him 
understand it was the likeness of a goddess, one that never 
took any kidney medicine. Thinking I could impress 
him more favorably, I asked for the photograph, which he 
gave me. Then I mounted Mr. Anderson’s shoulders, held 
the photograph aloft and repeated thus : 

“O Bahwahgun, chief of Kiddle’s Isle, 

To thee I address this humble song ; 

Should it cause thee to smile 
May thy mirth last long. 

“ To the far away south lies a land 

Where benign is the breeze and serene the sky ; 

There dwells Mr. Buncom’ s lady and 
To whom thou art only knee high. 


198 


Captain Kiddle. 

“She is beautiful as a seraph can be, 

Gentle as the moon in the sky ; 

And never was mortal lovely as she 
To whom thou art only knee high. 

“ Angelic goodness in her soul doth quiver, 

And this no mortal will deny ; 

That she has a disordered liver, 

To whom thou art only knee high. 

“ The serpent in the deep blue sea, 

The fudyick circling in the azure sky, 

Is no comparison to she 
To whom thou art only knee high 

“ I swear by Buncom Falls, the Fountain of Youth, 

All the stars I see when struck in the eye ; 

By the Siege Gun and Kiddle Isle forsooth 
That to Imp thou art only knee high.” 

This had a decided effect upon him ; he rose upon his 
toes and shouted so loud that everybody in town came 
forth. I returned the photograph, which he replaced 
round his neck and went his way. I searched through my 
things and found a three-cornered file. With it the 
carpenter put teeth in one of the blades. This was a 
cross-cut saw, and the other when finished a rip saw. 
They needed no polishing, as the hammer had left them 
smooth and bright as if. coming from an emery stone. 
The nex-t day we made handles for the blades from a tough 
piece of wood we picked up on our return from the 
furnace. One of the backs, that of the rip saw, if I re- 
member correctty, was as sharp as a razor. Mr. Anderson 
drew it across the end of his beard and cut it off square as 
the end of a new broom. 1 asked the carpenter his reasons 
for making it so. He replied that he made it for a weapon 
of defense as well as for a saw. The carpenter, Mr. 
Anderson, and I, and also Mr. Buncom, still grieving over 
the loss of Imp’s photograph, went to the furnace again. 
We took along two spear-heads from which the carpenter 
was to make two axes of four pounds each, an adz, three 
plane bits, a square, six chisels, from one-half inch up to 
two inches, a brace, and, if possible, half a dozen bits and 
also three augurs ; one two inch, another one inch and a 
halt and the other one inch. At the end of an hour’s time 
an axe was completed except the eye. Mr. Anderson 


We Build a Boat. 


199 


tried to shoot an eye in it, but the balls would not pene- 
trate that thickness of steel, something over four inches. 
However, the balls penetrated half way through, making 
a perfect e}^e so far as they went. The carpenter made a 
punch and finished the eye. Mr. Anderson never thought 
of cutting it through with a second round. After the 
second axe was finished, we concluded we had done 
enough for one day, and started for home. On reaching 
home we found the town in an uproar. W omen shrieked and 
wailed the same as on the evening we arrived among them, 
when learning the fate of those Jack slew. 

“The old Harry is to pay now,” said Mr. Anderson, 
44 and I wonder who is dead.” 

44 It may be the fellow that old woman gave the horned 
toad to this morning,” replied Mr. Buncom. 

Instead of a medicine man as our savages have, they 
have a medicine woman, who, like the medicine man, 
on losing the third patient, is condemned to die. The 
furnace consumes the learned daughter of the ASsculapian 
art. A short distance below our quarters, where the 
crowd was assembled, we saw the body of a savage, one 
of the spear-head makers, lying on the ground nearly cut 
in two just above the hips. By the corpse lay the razor- 
back hand saw. I learned from Lib that the victim had 
filched it from our house and flourished it before one of 
his fellow-workmen, who took it from the victim’s hand 
and swung it round to hear it whiz through the air. The 
saw came in contact with the victim’s body, and the result 
was as stated. The savages were afraid of the saw and 
would not touch it. Mr. Anderson took it up and began 
whirling it over his head. Every savage uttered a howl 
and disappeared. Presently a fudyick descended and rose 
with the body. Mr. Anderson shot it. Down came bird 
and body on the fire, where Lib had our meal ready to 
serve up. The spectacle was sickening, and took away 
my appetite. I ordered Mr. Anderson to bury both 
body and bird. When he took up the first shovelful of 
dirt, down came ten fudyicks. One took the body and 
the carcass, and another our camp kettle, full of meat and 
vegetables. 

44 Mr. Anderson, you will have to make another shot or 
our‘ kettle is lost.” 


200 Captain Kiddle. 

He fired, wounding the fudyick, which came down, placed 
the kettle back exactly in the same position, and ran off* 
Not only are these birds most rapid fliers, but they can run 
equally as fast, with twice the speed of an ostrich. When 
we went to finish our list of tools, we learned that the sav- 
ages had carried away every head except one they did non 
happen to see. From this one the carpenter made three 
chisels — it was not of very good material. Under no cir- 
cumstances could we get any more heads of the savages, 
nor would they tell whence they obtained their material. 
We could have made all the tools we desired from gold. 
For the first time in my life I saw that iron was more val- 
uable than gold. Perhaps this was the only time in the 
world’s history, since the Golden Age, that iron was par- 
amount to the value of gold. What if gold was plentiful 
as iron and iron scarce as gold? Would the railway loco- 
motive rush athwart our continent swift as the wind, or the 
steamship plow the seas, unheeding wave or gale? I am 
afraid not. We would wear ornaments of solid iron, those 
who could afford it, and others brass, iron-plated. Of the 
other rifle barrel an adz was made. We searched the forest 
two days before finding a wood suitable for axe-helves and 
the like. Instead of a tree it was a vine of about three 
inches in diameter, the largest we found, and flexible as 
whalebone. The vine ascends trees, and has a leaf like 
that of the grape, and bears nuts instead of fruit. The 
nuts hang in clusters like grapes. The shell is red and 
kernel white. Eaten raw it is deadly poison ; when boiled 
the deleterious properties are destroyed. It produces an 
intoxication when mixed with milk and drank. The sav% 
ages consume it in large quantities. To an unaccustomed 
consumer, a teaspoonful will intoxicate him, and at the 
same time render him wholly unobvious of his surround- 
ings as if drinking from Lethe’s stream. The touch of the 
vine poisons like poison oak or poison ivy. With covered 
hands it is safe to handle, or after severed from the roots 
for an hour or two, in which time the poisonous properties 
escape. The savages used this method in procuring the 
nuts : one day they went in the woods and out as many 
vines as they thought would fill the want of nuts, and next 
day they pulled down the vines and gathered the nuts. One 
ivne often bears twenty bushels. These vines were 'not 


We Build a Boat. 


201 


very plentiful, and when Bahwahgun learned we had de- 
stroyed three of them, hg jabbered about the furnace and 
we talked about the razor-back handsaw. Mr. Anderson 
held it ready to slay the old savage if ordering his threats 
carried out. The poisonous vine made our bodies swell 
terribly, I looked almost as plump as Mr. Buncom, and we 
were much alarmed. Mrs. Anderson told us to go to the 
pond, the same one I saw the women in bathing, and wallow 
in the mud for two hours. We did so, and never did so 
many hogs enjoy a mud wallow better. The swelling and 
pain left at once, but we had difficulty in getting the mud 
from our bodies. It stuck fast like so much tar. Mr. Bun- 
com came out with a black nose, of which he was unaware. 
We said nothing about it, and began talking about black 
'eyes, and even mentioned black noses. Mr. Buncom’s nose 
was small, and being rather near-sighted, its condition 
escaped his observation. 

When we returned to Mr. Anderson’s house the women 
began laughing and shouting something like “ Booboo.” 

“ What do they mean ? ” asked Mr. Anderson of his wife. 

“ They are shouting black nose.” 

“ That is meant for Mr. Levy,” said Mr. Buncom looking 
toward the Jew and laughing. 

“ Mr. Solomon Levy,” called Mr. Anderson, “ these ladies 
are calling you black nose.” 

“ It is a lie,” roared Mr. Levy angrily, for it always 
angered him to say anything about his nose. “They are 
calling Buncom that.” 

“ They are not.” 

“ They are, for you have a black nose.” 

“ It is untrue. If I had as large and black a nose as yours 
I would lease it for a fudyick roost.” 

“You old sanctimonious psalm-singing Gentile ! ” shouted 
Mr. Levy, more enraged; “you have a black nose and we 
will leave it to the Captain.” 

“ Very well. Captain, is my nose black ? ” 

“ Indeed it is.” 

“ If anybody else told me so I would not believe it.” 

“Look in this glass,” said Mr. Anderson, who picked up 
Bahwahgun’s hand-mirror, which he had just dropped. 

“ My stars ! Mr. Levy I have done you a great injury, 
and ask forgiveness.” 


202 


Captain Kiddle. 

“Ah,” exclaimed the Jew, “ then you believe Mr. Solomon 
Levy, who is truthful even to a Gentile.” 

We set out the following day to begin a boat. Our party 
consisted of the members of the Purple Cross organization, 
carpenter, Mrs. Anderson, Lib and the Esquimau. We 
moved, as they say, “ bag and baggage,” and camped at 
the old ship-yard. We first built a small log cabin, twelve 
by fourteen feet, for Mr. Anderson. The cabin had a door 
and two windows and shake roof. For a while Mrs. 
Anderson crawled out and in on all fours. She had been 
accustomed to doing so for so long, it was hard to get out 
the rut made by the wheel, Habit. Mr. Anderson remarked 
it seemed like living in a civilized country, since he could 
go out and come indoors like a man. Then we built a 
cabin twenty by twenty feet for ourselves, and a homelike 
place it was. It looked something like an arsenal to see 
five rifles, a shot gun, four cutlasses, and my revolvers 
hung upon the wall. Such large game as bear, deer, an- 
telope, elk and wild cattle were plentiful, and so was fowl, 
such as geese, ducks, turkeys, pheasants, and quail. Mr. 
Anderson kept us supplied in game. Lib ground wheat 
in one of the savages’ mills — a round hole in a boulder, in 
which the wheat was placed and mortared up, and made 
good bread. With our poor set of tools, the headway was 
slow. To make matters more dragging, Mr. Buncom cut 
the knee of his sound pedestrial extremity with the broad 
axe, and was laid up for seven months. Having no auger 
to bore holes with, to pin the timbers together, or spikes to 
spike them together, we were at a loss to know how we 
could overcome the difficulty. At last the carpenter par- 
tially overcame it by making a rude auger from his punch. 
Boring holes with it was slow and difficult, as the live oak 
ribs were getting live oak tough. The hole made by the 
auger, no larger than the end of my big finger would be of 
little account to receive a pin, which must be at least an 
inch one. 

“ Why not make spikes of gold to fasten the timbers to- 
gether?” suggested Mr. Anderson. 

“ A good idea,” replied I ; “ we can make our gold as use- 
ful as it is valuable. And let us fill the timbers full of 
spikes.” 

On coming to this conclusion, the carpenter and Mr. 


We Build a Boat. 


203 


Anderson went over to Anderson’s Gulch, and after an 
absence of eight hours returned with one hundred pounds 
of gold apiece. The gold was hammered into spikes and 
driven in the holes made to receive them. We bored holes, 
dug gold, made it into spikes and drove them, till there 
was fully one ton of gold in the timbers. I did not go to 
the diggings at all, for I am so small and cannot carry 
much of a load. The carpenter and Mr. Anderson went 
invariably. Sometimes the carpenter and Lib went, and 
at other times Mr. Anderson and the Esquimau. Mrs. 
Anderson wove a large amount of cloth from grasses, for 
sails. It was light and stronger than any canvass I ever 
saw. I had a suit made of the material, and it wore like 
corduroy — lasting almost as long as Mr. Sanborn’s wolf 
skins. I thought it strange Mrs. Anderson did not make 
herself any garments from this material, but so long as 
there was a blanket, blue, white, brown, scarlet, gray or 
red, left, she managed to get it. At last, after nearly two 
years’ time, the planks, fully seasoned, were ready to put 
on. We had over two tons of spikes ready to fasten them 
on with. I began boring holes through the planks, which 
were hard. Mr. Anderson, on seeing me toil, sweating like 
a harvest hand, said, “ Captain, I have a quicker way of 
making holes than that. Give me your revolvers.” 

“ The last bullets I have are in them, and there is no 
more lead to make any of.” 

My revolvers were of the old pattern Colt, cap and ball, 
44 calibre, and a better shooting firearm was never 
made. 

“ To-morrow I will go to the furnace,” said Mr. Ander- 
son, “ and bring down a bar of that metal.” 

It never once entered my mind that this metal would be 
first-rate for bullets. He brought down a bar of over one 
hundred pound weight, almost pure silver. There, in that 
pile, which I am sure is there to this day, are millions of dol- 
lars’ worth of silver. Mr. Anderson ran the bar into bullets. 
The carpenter marked the plank where he desired holes 
through them. Mr. Anderson, with a revolver in each 
hand, stood a few paces from the plank, shooting holes 
with silver bullets to receive gold spikes. In half a day’s 
time he had the holes finished, and then began shooting 
holes in the ribs. The planks went on remarkably fast, and 


204 


Captain Kiddle. 

in fastening them on, the last spike was used. We calked 
with a species of fine, tough grass, the texture of hemp, 
soaked in pitch, which made it perfectly water-tight. The 
deck was put on after considerable delay. For shrouds 
we used the poisonous vines of which 1 have spoken. 
They were more like rope, on being soaked in salt water 
for a month, than anything else. We made rope of the 
smaller vines which were very flexible and much stronger 
than a hemp rope. The anchor chain was of the same ma- 
terial, better than iron, for it never rusted, and salt water 
preserved it. The anchor was of one mass of gold, weigh- 
ing five hundred pounds. It was made from the largest 
mass we took from the diggings. It took many a strong, 
hard pull, and a “ pull all together boys,” as I used to 
shout when weighing anchor, before we got it to our boat. 
At last everything was complete, even the craft’s name, 
which was Lucinda, in remembrance of my sweetheart. 
The name was on the stern in letters of gold. It took a 
long while to make the letters, for I am not much of a 
goldsmith, and in their making I used five hundred pounds 
of gold. Lucinda ! in letters of gold, and how beautiful it 
looked. Bright, glittering gold, though no more daric 
than she who bore that name. How happy I was in the 
making of those letters, for my thoughts dwelt incessantly 
on the past. When Lucinda and I were scholars at school 
we used to glance at each other across the room, and ex- 
change bits of paper with words of affection on them. 
One day the teacher, a morose old bachelor, without the 
least humanity in his heart, took from my hand one of 
Lucinda’s notes and read thus : 

“Dearest Johnny : — I meant to have seen you before 
school called to tell you that this is my last day at school 
for the present. Papa has concluded to send me down to 
New York City, to a surgical institute, to have my lip 
sewed up and my foot straightened. When I return, I 
will not look like that big hare-lipped, club-footed lass, 
whom everybody seems to despise on account of her de- 
formities, except you, Johnny. I will love you just the 
same, if you do come only up to my shoulders. It would 
make no difference if you came only up to my waist. I 
do not want you to walk on your toes trying to make 


We Built a Boat. 


205 


yourself seem taller than you really are. I will see you 
after school. 

“ Yours affectionately, 

“Lucinda B. Blackgrinda.” 

The scholars clapped their hands and laughed. Lucinda 
bowed her head upon the desk and cried. At first I felt 
like crying, too, but the next moment I was revengeful. I 
took up my slate, on which was a partly finished problem 
in long division, rose up, and brought it down with all my 
might on his head. He jumped and gave a shout which 
made the scholars laugh louder than before. The frame 
was round his neck, which he tried to take off, but could 
not until pulling it to pieces. While he was doing this 
I left school, and that finished my schooling. My father 
said if I really felt like cracking heads I might as well go 
to sea with him and begin upon the sailors. The only 
person I ever struck under me was Dutch, of which I 
spoke some time ago. 

The boat was ready to launch on the morrow. That 
evening Bahwahgun and one hundred warriors came over, 
reversing our plans. The old savage had not molested us 
once during the time occupied in building the boat — more Y 
than two years and a half. Certainly he was kept posted 
on our doings, or he would not have known just when to 
come. On coming up to the ship-yard, he said, “ Why 
build’st this boat?” 

It was several moments before I could reply, as I was so 
astonished at the fluency he spoke our language. “ Bah- 
wahgun, great chief of Kiddle’s Island, possessor of many 
handsome wives, it is for your pleasure to take you out 
upon the sea.” 

u It is all a lit?!” he roared. “Bahwahgun is not to be 
deceived. You made it to escape with. The only way 
you cowardly dogs will ever escape is by the furnace in a 
puff of smoke, like that from your red-skinned brother,” 
(Jack). 

“ Will you not take a ride with us to-morrow ? ” 

“No; you mean to drown me and yourselves in that 
long wooden house (the boat) you have been so long in 
building. Since you have built a boat for yourselves, you 
shall build one for me also.” 


206 Captain Kiddle . 

“That we will do. Tell us what size you want it and of 
what sort of wood.” 

“ Not of wood at all.” 

“ Of gold then? ” 

“No, no; all you slaves think of is gold. What good 
is it ? Does it give you anything to eat, wear or drink, or 
make you sleep sounder, dreaming pleasant dreams?” 

“ It would if we were in our own country.” 

“ You will never get there so long as Bahwahgun lives. 
I say I want a boat built, and a large one too.” 

“ We will do so ; tell us how you want it made.” 

“Wait till the time comes.” 

Bahwahgun also brought my men along, of whom Mr. 
Levy was foreman, and they began building several log 
cabins, with doors like ours, with the exception of one 
which was Bahwahgun’s. He was prejudiced and would 
have no other doorway than one that compelled him to get 
down on all fours. This seemed a humiliating task, and 
it was the only thing I ever saw that brought him this low. 
Mr. Levy was much pleased with our boat, and thought 
we ought to have put more gold spikes in it. We told him 
we would, providing he gave up his bride to make spikes 
of, which *)f course he would not do. The sailors were de- 
lighted with it. They wanted to launch it, and try to es- 
cape before Bahwahgun’s eyes. If there had been a favor- 
able wind, we would have hazarded an attempt. The 
wind blew not at all while an opportunity lasted. We 
really did not want to try to escape without our entire 
number, for it would seem cruel to sail away leaving part 
of our comrades at Bahwahgun’s mercy. 


Fabulous Rich Placer Mine, 


207 


CHAPTER XX. 

FABULOUS RICH PLACER MINE. 

While Bahwahgun was preventing our escape, we con- 
cluded to work the placer mine in Anderson’s Gulch. It 
seems strange that those who dug gold on this island thou- 
sands of years ago, should not have dug out this gulch 
also. The only reason I can give that they did not do so 
is, there were fifty feet of aluvial deposit on bed rock. In 
the course of centuries, a stream formed by melting snow 
up in the mountains, had washed away this deposit to bed 
rock, three feet above which a “ color ” was not to be 
found. The gold was left in the wash almost bare. 
Whence came this gold ? I began tracing it up on the moun- 
tain-side. Upon a bench one mile wide and three long I 
found old diggings ; the bed rock was stripped clean. It 
must have taken thousands of men 3*ears to remove such a 
vast quantity of dirt, which was, as near as I could calcu- 
late, ten feet deep. A large stream still flowed through a 
ditch the miners had made along the upper side of the dig- 
gings. I crossed the ditch and ascended to another bench, 
where I saw a gap in the solid granite one hundred feet 
wide, and cannot tell how deep, as it was partly filled up 
w T ith rock, extending north and south, running into the 
great mountain. This was a gold-bearing ledge, lode or 
deposit, and from it the placer gold came. I returned and 
reported my discovery to Mr. Anderson who named this 
gold bearing ledge The Kiddle Lode, after its rediscoverer, 
as I had named the gulch after him. Below, where bed 
rock cropped out, in the bed of the gulch we could not find 
any gold at all, and there was but little one hundred yards 
above it. All the precious metal seemed to lodge on this 
reef. We had dug the channel out in getting gold for our 
craft. On both sides the gulch, the right in particular, 
was rich. On this side Mr. Anderson began a tunnel on 
bed rock. At this sort of work he was very skillful, as he 
had placer-mined for several years, on the banks of Sacra- 


-08 


Captain Kiddle. 

mento River and its tributaries. At the end of two weeks 
time, he had a tunnel of one hundred feet. We had no 
wheelbarrow, and had to carry the dirt out in a bucket. 
We sieved the lower yard of dirt and the upper yard was 
waste. The tunnel was a little over two yards high. I 
thought the upper yard ought to be sieved too, for it looked 
exactly like “ pay dirt.” At length Mr. Anderson con- 
vinced me it was no account, by trying some in his gold 
pan, a bucket cut off five inches from the bottom, and 
sides made flaring, about the shape of a milk pan. He 
panned the dirt by placing the pan in water, giving it a 
peculiar shake, similar to the shaking of a victim of Mis- 
souri fever and ague. After a while he got the dirt out, 
leaving a little black sand which he said was a good indi- 
cator of gold. Without the gold, indications are not worth 
much. From pay dirt he took a panful, and when the 
dirt was washed out the bottom of the pan was covered 
with gold. A stream began running down the gulch and 
Mr. Anderson stopped digging. He had dug faithfully as 
a badger at its hole. At the ship-yard he ripped out several 
boards. I asked what he intended to do with them, and 
he replied they were for sluice boxes to sluice with. I 
knew as much about it now as before, and no more. I 
asked him to explain, so I could note it in my memoran- 
dum. He requested me to wait a few days, and I would 
see how it went, rendering the matter more explicit than 
any explanation he could give. When the “few days” 
were up, as he called them, there were thirty in all, I saw 
three boxes ten feet long without lid or ends. They were 
one foot wide and that high. There was nothing remark- 
able about them except their heft. I managed to carry one 
end of a box far as the falls. Then I carried something 
Mr. Anderson called riffles. It consisted of two thin strips 
of wood ten feet long, one inch wide, and a quarter inch 
thick. Between these, at an equal distance of two inches, 
were blocks one inch square, eleven and a half inches long 
— making the concern fit tight to the bottom of a sluice 
box. There were two sets of riffles. The boxes were 
placed one after another, making a continuous box. Be- 
tween the riffles and the bottom of the box blanketing was 
placed to catch the fine gold. The sluice was lower at one 
end, so that the water flowed through quite rapidly. Mr. 


Fabulous Rich Placer Mine. 


209 


Anderson began shoveling pay dirt in the sluice, and I saw 
a mass of gravel and muddy water come from it. 

“ Mr. Anderson,” said I, “ you will certainly lose all the 
gold, for everything is coming through.” 

“ Captain, wait till evening, and I will convince you 
differently.” 

This looked so much like children’s play, casting gravel 
in a stream to see the pebbles roll on, that I concluded it a 
waste of time, and got up to go home. Mr. Anderson 
requested me to stay, as he would need assistance in car- 
rying the gold home. I said I would agree to carry and 
even to eat every ounce he saved. Mr. Buncom shook 
his head in doubt, and remarked there might possibly be 
enough gold to fill his spectacle case. 

He held the open case before Mr. Anderson, and said, 
“ Sir, will there be enough gold to fill this ? ” 

“ Yes, and I will fill it for you now.” 

He placed his hand at the bottom of the sluice and took 
out a handful of gold; the case would not hold one fourth 
of it. 

“ Captain, here is a little to begin on ; you agreed to eat 
all I might save. It will be a hearty meal, and you might 
as well begin.” 

“ I wish to acknowledge that my assertion is erroneous.” 

Then he threw in a few more shovels of dirt and let the 
water run till it became clear. 

“ Look here, Captain, how do you like the sight of this ? ” 
said Mr. Anderson, pointing to the sluice bottom, covered 
with a yellow glittering substance, which was gold. 

“Where did all that come from?” inquired I, much 
astonished. 

“ Why, out the dirt.” 

“ I could never see anything in it at all.” 

“ Why, man, it is nearly one fourth gold.” 

He took up a handful of dirt, and held it in the water a 
moment. Few gravel and a dirty streak came from his 
hand ; then he exhibited half a handful of gold. He turned 
the water through a ditch at the head of the sluice, leaving 
it dry. He took out the gold, and placed it upon a cloth 
spread upon the ground. When his task was finished, he 
said, “ Captain, if you do not mind, carry this little heap 
home.” 


14 


£10 


Captain Kiddle. 

I knew it was useless to attempt to take it up, and 
inquired how much it weighed. 

44 Guess.” 

“ Three hundred pounds.” 

“ More than that. Mr. Buncom you guess.” 

44 Five hundred pounds.” 

44 Guess, Lib.” 

“ Tenee hundled pounds.” 

44 That is about its weight, I should judge.” 

44 Half a ton of gold ! ” said I, 44 and how much is there 
in that heap yet?” pointing out the pay dirt. 

44 Eight or ten tons.” 

44 Goodness that will be all we want.” 

44 1 would like to have that much myself,” said Mr. Bun- 
com. 

44 Eh, old chap, getting as avaricious as the Jew.” 

44 No, not at all.” 

44 What would j^ou do with so much wealth? ” 

44 Spend it in buying kidney medicine for Imp.” 

44 Why, good man, you would corner the market, and all 
the victims of kidney disease would suffer.” 

44 No ; some fool would get out a quack medicine excel- 
ling all those now in use.” 

44 If we ever get back home, I will promise you a ton of 
gold. Ten pounds would keep Imp in medicine till she is 
ready for the skies.” 

We shouldered as much gold as we could carry comfort' 
ably, and started for home. Mr. Levy saw us coming, 
and guessed the contents of our burdens. 

44 Alas ! ” said he, 44 why is it that you are favored so by 
Baliwaligun? You come home burdened with gold, while 
I with the galling yoke of slavery. Could I oidy for one 
day carry gold the same as you, and keep the same, this 
island would become heaven indeed. ” 

44 Mr. Levy,” replied I, 44 if you really think there is any- 
thing heavenly about a back-load of this stuff, I will do 
all I can to get Bahwahgun to let you have to-morrow to 
yourself. You can have every pound of gold you might 
carry.” 

44 Ah, Captain, do you really mean it ? ” 

44 Indeed I do.” 

He placed his arms round my neck and gave me an 


Fabulous Rich Placer Mine. 


211 


affectionate hug — one that almost squeezed the breath 
from my body. We sought the presence of Bahwahgun, 
who was just kicking his way into his new house. 

44 Come out of that, you old ground hog,” I said, for- 
getting about his understanding me. 

44 Who addresses me thus ? ” he growled. 

I shuddered on perceiving what I had done, and to 
make the matter a burlesque on myself, replied, 44 It is 
that little man, your humble servant, who is hardly knee 
high to Bahwahgun. Not so large as your youngest child, 
too small to have even one wife — so small that the mighty 
chief can hardly see him at all.” 

This elated Bahwahgun who came out smiling, saying, 
44 It is well you spoke the truth concerning yourself. When 
I heard you addressing me as you did, I was on the point 
of turning round to pick you up and dash you to the 
ground as I did the bear you saw me kill.” 

44 Oh, Bahwahgun, great, noble, kind-hearted chief, your 
humble servant comes before you asking a favor in be- 
half of my friend, Mr. Solomon Levy, who is in sore dis- 
tress.” 

44 What is it, little slave, only knee high to Bahwahgun?” 

44 1 wish you would let my friend, Mr. Solomon Levy, 
have a day, to-morrow if agreeable, to himself.” 

44 Then he is sick for gold too? ” 

44 That’s just it.” 

On turning to Mr. Levy, Bahwahgun addressed him thus : 
44 Slave with the big new-moon-shaped nose, to-morrow 
you may carry gold.” 

44 That is it, oil great chief, kind-hearted master,” replied 
Mr. Levy with a grin. 

44 Within fifteen hours’ time you must make that number 
of trips, and should you fail to do so, you will be taken up 
to the furnace and you know for what purpose. Go home, 
slaves.” 

44 You will find it a difficult task to fulfil his expecta- 
tions,” said I to Mr. Levy. 44 It is three miles from here 
to Anderspn’s Gulch, a round trip is six miles, over a rough 
road most of the way, dark tunnels to pass through, 
besides carrying a load. You will have to load light not 
to exceed twenty-five pounds per trip.” 

44 Only twenty-five pounds ? Why Captain, I must carry 


212 Captain Kiddle. 

one hundred pounds more than that. I have a chance to 
make all the money I want, and it is well worth risking* 
my life for it.” 

44 It is a big undertaking for a person, even without a 
load. Ninety miles within fifteen hours, that is the dis- 
tance you will have to travel. Not one in a thousand 
could do it.” 

“ Mr. Solomon Levy knows what it is to travel, and 
loaded at that, for he has been a pack peddler. Once he 
made one hundred miles with a pack weighing two hun- 
dred pounds within twenty-four hours’ time, and over a 
rough road at that.” 

I doubted this statement, and asked if he saw any money 
ahead. 

“ Oh, yes,” replied he, with an avaricious, bigot grin* 
44 Mr. Solomon Levy made over two hundred dollars that 
journey.” 

That evening Mr. Levy’s morrow’s task was the absorb- 
ing theme. 

About this time Mr. Buncom had named the hamlet at 
the shipyard Shipyardville. I wanted to call it Buncom- 
town or Buncomville. He objected, saying that Buncom 
Falls were buncom enough for him. Bahwahgun looked 
' pleased over the Jew’s seemingly impossible task, and a 
warrior sharpened a spear to suspend the supposed victim 
over the fire hole. Mr. Levy was the only hopeful one 
among us. He laughed and called himself a millionaire, 
but his laughter sounded in my ears like the roar of the 
furnace. It was late before we retired, and we advised 
Mr. Levy to retire at once. He sat up counting his coin 
and figuring up about what he thought he would be worth. 
In the fifteen loads he figured on a ton. At last he de- 
parted, and I was asleep when somebody rapped on the 
door and called my name. 

44 Halloo, who is there ? ” I inquired. 

44 It is Mr. Solomon Levy, who has come to inquire about 
the value of the gold per ounce.” 

44 You had better inquire of your Maker the value of 
your soul per grain.” 

44 Tell me, Captain ; I am in a fearful hurry, and want to 
get to bed.” 

“You can figure safely on twenty dollars, and by itsap- 


■ Fabulous Rich Placer Mine , 213 

pearance I should judge it would go three dollars more.” 

Since my sojourn here in San Francisco I had a small 
piece assayed — the only fragment of the twenty tons we 
had aboard the Lucinda , and it was twenty-four carats fine 
— pure gold — the purest ever discovered. Next to this for 
purity was a piece from Siberia, a little over twenty-three 
carats fine. 

Mr. Levy left on receiving the desired information, and 
Mr. Morrisey said he did not sleep at all that night, but 
sat figuring and figuring, long as there was any paper to 
figure on. He figured his memorandum book full. 

Bahwahgun woke me up, and by my watch it wanted 
fifteen minutes to six o’clock. He held in his hand a half 
sphere six inches in diameter, hollowed out so that it was 
little thicker than an egg shell, with a tiny hole through 
the bottom. 

“ What time is it by your watch ? ” he inquired. 

“ Ten minutes to six.” 

“ Before six o’clock be down by that tree,” pointing out 
a tree that stood in front of his cabin. 

I was there on hand. Here stood an earthen jar, almost 
full of water. When six o’clock to the second, he placed 
the half sphere in the jar upon the water and bade Mr. 
Levy depart. 

“ This,” said he, pointing to the object on the water, “ is 
my timepiece. It will sink precisely in fifteen hours’ time. 
I have one that sinks every hour, another every two 
hours, and so on up to the twenty-fourth hour.” 

They reckon time up to the twenty-fourth hour, doing 
away with a. m. and P. M., which I think will be adopted 
by the civilized world in the course of time. With a small 
bearskin sack over his shoulder, Mr. Lev}' departed on a 
trot, often called a dog trot. With him went one of Bah- 
wahgun’s most reliable warriors, to see that he went each 
time to the gulch. He was afraid Mr. Levy might take a 
load half way, empty part on the ground, and take it his 
next trip. I went to the gulch, together with Mr. Bun- 
com and Anderson, who were to sluice more gold. Before 
departing, Bahwahgun gave me a bag of the same size as 
Mr. Levy’s for me to fill during his absence. We met Mr. 
Levy in the tunnel under the falls, and his hour was up 
exactly. 


214 


Captain Kiddle. 

44 How much shall I put in the bag ? ” I asked him. 

44 One hundred and twenty-five pounds,” replied he, run- 
ning on, as if going to a fire or escaping with that weight 
of coin, forced from a safe. 

We walked on rapidly, expecting Mr. Levy would over- 
take us at the brook, but he overtook us at the foot of the 
hill where Bahwahgun killed the bears. 

44 Mr. Levy, it seems to me you are remarkably lively 
this morning. Is business brisk ? ” inquired Mr. Ander- 
son. 

44 Yes ; Mr. Solomon Levy will do a good business to- 
day,” replied the Jew, ascending the hill and disappearing 
over it before we were quarter way up it. We almost ran 
up it, and flew down the other side. We met Mr. Levy at 
the brook. Mr. Buncom stepped upon the foot-bridge, and 
Mr. Levy shouted, 44 Let me pass ! Do not stop me, or I 
shall lose a fortune.” 

44 And your life too,” added Mr. Buncom. 

Before we crossed the stream he was over the hill out of 
sight. 

44 1 am almost positive he will make it,” I said. 

44 It looks that way,” replied Mr. Buncom, 44 but he is 
overtasking himself. However, this afternoon will tell the 
tale.” 

Mr. Anderson sluiced pay dirt while Mr. Buncom and I 
filled the bag. Once we did not put in over one hundred 
pounds. Mr. Levy declared we had swindled him out of 
twenty-five pounds of gold. Then on we put in what he told 
us to do — one hundred and twenty-five pounds, that is, near 
as we could guess at the weight. By noon he had finished 
the tenth trip. On coming back he began to fag and his 
gait was unsteady. 

44 Did 3 r ou stop for dinner?” I asked. 

44 No, I could not waste the time.” 

44 Here, have something to eat.” I handed him a thick 
slice of bread with a hunk of venison on it. He gulped it 
down and drank from the lower end of the sluice, and 
spewed out a mouthful of gravel. 

44 What ! are you mad ? Why didn’t you go above the 
sluice to drink?” 

44 Mr. Solomon Levy could not spare the time.” 

He took up his bag, stumbled, and fell flat on his face. 


Fabulous Rich Placer Mine. 


216 


His first impulse on getting up was to go on without the 

tag. 

“ I can’t leave it behind,” he said, with a distressing cry ; 
u it would ruin me completely.” 

He took up the bag, but did not go far before falling 
again. He sat upon the bag and began weeping. 

“ Go on, and let the bag go to blazes,” said Mr. Ander- 
son. “ Make five more beats so that your life will be safe, 
and then, if you feel like it, come back after the bag. If 
you do not care to do that go with half its contents. What 
is left I will carry home and give you one half of it.” 

“ Wouldn’t you give me all ? ” 

“No ; not one ounce now — go on.” 

Mr. Levy took up his burden and staggeredon. It was 
three o’clock before he returned. In departing, he fell at 
almost every other step. At length he fell unusually 
heavy, and laid there so long I was afraid he had fallen 
never to rise again. I took him some water, which he 
drank in gulps, strangling him fearfully. 

“What makes you behave like that?” I asked. 

“ I have not time to drink.” 

I saw he was exhausted, and tried to cheer him by say- 
ing, “ Only three loads more and you have almost six 
hours left. Take courage, Mr. Solomon Levy, and you 
will come out all-right, with a big fortune.” 

“ Captain, I am afraid I can never do it,” he replied 
in husky tones. 

I helped him to his feet, but did not touch the bag, so 
that Bahwahgun could not say I assisted him. He 
departed and returned at four o’clock. He sat down a 
few minutes, and Mr. Anderson to nerve him up said there 
were tons of gold in the tunnel — so there were, and that 
he, Mr. Levy, could have all he might carry in one week’s 
time. 

“What I get to-day,” replied Mr. Levy, “will be all 
the wealth I want.” 

He took up his bag and went on. The brief rest re- 
freshened him remarkably, and he made the trip in one 
hour’s time. When he departed again, Mr. Anderson 
turned the water off the sluice and cleaned up the second 
time that day — sluicing one ton of gold. We went in the 
tunnel to examine a particular spot where Mr. Anderson 


216 Captain Kiddle. 

said was liable to be a pocket — a quantity of coarse gold 
within a small space. This spot was back thirty feet from 
the breast of the tunnel, and on the left-hand side. Mr. 
Anderson began picking down dirt, to which I objected, 
for I thought I would have to carry out all he knocked 
down. Moving dirt with a bucket is not an easy task. 
He worked away for twenty minutes and muttered to him- 
self, “ I thought so,” and began pulling out a yellow ob- 
ject with his hands. It was a nugget, weighing three 
hundred pounds. On scraping away the dirt we beheld 
nuggets piled one upon another, like granite boulders in 
the bed of a California creek. 

“We will go home now,” said Mr. Anderson, on taking 
up a nugget of about one hundred pounds’ weight. 

As we started, Mr. Levy returned for his last load. He 
ran on ahead saying he intended to make two extra trips. 
When we got home we found Mr. Levy lying across his 
heap of gold with his bride in his arms and bag of coin by 
his side. I went up to him and spoke, but he heard me 
not, for he was dead. In that great race for wealth he 
overtasked nature, probably ruptured a blood vessel. Next 
day we buried him beneath a tree in front of our cabin 
with his bride in his arms and bag of coin under his head. 
If wealth can add to the happiness of a soul in the here- 
after, I hope Mr. Solomon Levy is enjoying himself with 
his bride and bag of coin. He made, I think, the most 
remarkable time on record. Ninety miles in twelve hours, 
bearing burdens aggregating one ton half the distance. 


The Fountain of Youth . 


217 


CHAPTER XXI. 

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. 

From the time we laid out Shipyardville, even far back 
as his wedding day, Mr. Anderson had more or less to say 
about a fountain somewhere on the island with rejuvenat- 
ing powers equal to the wildest dreams of Ponce de Leon, 
who wandered amid the morasses, alligator, mosquito and 
fever infested swamps of Florida, searching for it in vain. 
Not beneath the long Spanish moss, curtains of death, I 
believe it is called, was this fountain to be found. Weary 
and disheartened, as if searching in vain for the philoso- 
pher’s stone, this gallant old warrior returned home wound- 
ed and to die. Such a fountain would now exist in our midst 
had not man violated the laws of the Almighty, bringing 
upon himself the curse of death. Perchance it is well 
that it is so. Though often it seems hard, hard indeed, to 
part with loved ones who enter upon a more mysterious 
journey than the voyage of Christopher Columbus, on his 
discovery of America, was looked upon by the wisest men 
of that time. What reasons had Mr. Anderson for be- 
lieving that such a fountain existed? His wife had told 
him so. He did not ask her if she was not spinning some 
idle yarn to put him in good humor that she might have a 
new bonnet. Like a true husband he took it for granted 
it was a fact. During the past two years Mr. Anderson’s 
hair and beard had become quite gray. At his age — forty 
— they should not have done so. He attributed this omen 
of old age as the result of exposure and hard knocks from 
the hard-fisted world. I think strong drink had a great 
deal to do with it, for he drank to an excess whenever it 
was within reach. Several of the upper front teeth were 
decayed away and his lip sunk in. His mouth began to 
look as if it was drawn up with a puckering string. Rheu- 
matism, brought on by exposure during our hardships, 
from the time of our wreck till landing on the island, made 
him stiff-jointed in the leg and arm. Regarding rheuma- 


218 Captain Kiddle . 

tism, my condition was very little better than his. I was 
afflicted in the opposite leg and arm to what he was. Not 
that I had any faith in such a preposterous declaration 
concerning the existence of a fountain as already stated, 
that I consented to assist him in its rediscovery, but to be- 
come more fully acquainted with the topography of the 
island, I informed Mr. Anderson I would go when our car- 
go, twenty tons of gold, was transported from the mine. 
The transportation of this vast amount was slow and tedious. 
On the death of Mr. Levy the carpenter was compelled to 
take charge of the builders, thus taking away our main 
prop. The carpenter could carry almost a mule load. In 
his native land he labored for years carrying ore out of a 
mine upon his back. At this vocation he performed the 
task of two men, receiving double compensation, and he 
drank a double allowance of muscal — a native drink made, 
if I am not mistaken, from the bulb of a species of cactus. 
It produces the same effect as whiskey. Our pack train, 
a poor one, indeed, consisted of Mr. Buncom, Anderson, 
myself, Lib, and the Esquimau. Mr. Buncom could not 
carry much of a load on account of his lame knee which 
had not recovered entirely from the cut of the broadaxe. 

Mr. Anderson carried the most, and cursed his rheumatic 
limbs. His afflicted leg had a habit of sort of dragging 
along. I thought that I did very well, for £ carried a 
burden of twenty-five pounds. Lib and the Esquimau, on 
.account of their small stature, were called burros. Each 
carried as much as myself. Mr. Buncom and Anderson 
with fifty pounds apiece, myself with twenty-five pounds 
and the burros each with that number of pounds as my- 
self, aggregated one hundred and seventy-five pounds 
per trip. We made two trips a day for the first six days, 
transporting twenty-one hundred pounds — only one hun- 
dred pounds more than Mr. Levy carried in a single day. 
We began to miss Mr. Levy, and mourned his loss. We 
never knew his true value till now. A warm ray of sun- 
shine is not appreciated in midsummer, when the earth and 
sky are hot enough to broil us like a beefsteak on a gridiron ; 
but let this same ray, were it possible, descend from out a 
freezing sky upon the frozen earth, and how delightful it 
would seem. The next six days I declared were all legal 
holidays. We put on our best clothes, called on our 


219 


The Fountain of Youth. 

neighbors, made a grand ascent up to the falls in a canoe 
that Bahwahgun let us take with the understanding that- 
we would not use it in trying to escape. We pledged 
him our sacred honor, the violation of which was death by 
the furnace. We came almost being swamped in getting 
too close to the descending water. Then we went a picnick- 
ing in the woods. When ready to dine, a panther sprung* 
from a bough overhead, landing in the midst of our deli- 
cacies, spoiling our dinner. The beast intended to leap on 
my shoulders, but jumped clear over me. I may have 
looked, in its eyes, large as Mr. Buncom who sat opposite 
to me. For the first time in my life, I congratulated my- 
self on being small. The ferocious beast was about to 
attack Mr. Buncom when Mr. Anderson knocked it in the 
head with the butt of his rifle. We returned home 
with empty stomachs and the panther’s skin. We resumed 
our task, carrying gold, and after six days’ hard labor had 
another ton transported. We tried to let a contract for 
the transportation of the remainder, offering one ton of 
gold in payment thereof, but nobody would accept our 
terms. I tried to get some of the savages to assist us, but 
it was of no use. We had another season of rest and 
enjoyment. 

The evening before we intended to resume our tasks 
Mr. Anderson called on me and said my iEscula- 
pian services were needed at his house, as his wife was 
ill — the result that invariably follows marriage. A 
daughter was born to them. Hence, from the birth of the 
child, I was addressed Doctor as often as Captain. It was 
a handsome babe, an image of its mother. It was gentle 
and good-tempered. I never heard it cry at all. How 
handsome it looked in its little blue dress made of one of 
my flannel shirts. I had but two shirts left, and gave one 
of them to the mother. I would not have hesitated to 
give the shirt from my back and gone like Mr. Sanborn 
went for a while, rather than see the little thing 
suffer for want of clothing. No doubt Mr. Anderson was 
proud, but he never made much of it. The babe attracted 
much attention, and we all went to see it. Now, it must 
have a name. The father told each of us, those of my crew 
residing in Shipyardville, to suggest some pretty name. 
Mr. Sanborn happening to be over from Bahwahguntown, 


220 


Captain Kiddle . 

was the first, and suggested Emma Lila, the name of his 
sweetheart, whom he mentioned in his song as being 
“Black as de ace ob spades.” Mr. Anderson said damned 
if he was going to have his child named after a nigger 
wench, and would much rather have it bear the name of one 
of the female savages. Mr. Sanborn was much affronted at 
Mr. Anderson placing his “lubly maid ” on a par with the 
savages. Lib wanted to call it Liberty, after my aunt. 
Mr. Anderson never liked my aunt, and said that the 
name was indecorous. Mr. Buncom suggested the name of 
his daughter, Hattie Amanda. Had Mr. Anderson ever 
seen the beautiful, good lady bearing this name he would 
have called his daughter Hattie Amanda. He disliked the 
•daughter on account of her mother Imp. But the daughter 
was no more akin to her mother than a seraph is like an 
imp. She was like her father, possessing his noble quali- 
ties, and above them those virtues that elevate woman 
second in rank to an angel. 

“Captain,” said Mr. Anderson, “suggest a name; the 
name of somebody I am personally acquainted with.” 

The color rose to my cheeks, and my heart beat fast as 
I muttered “ Lucinda Belinda Blackgrinda,” the name of 
my sweetheart. 

“ Good enough, Captain. I do not know of a single 
person in the world without the child’s mother, that I had 
rather have the babe named after. Lucinda Belinda 
Blackgrinda is as pretty a name as the person who bears 

it.” 

I grew nervous and trembled. 

“ What is the matter, Captain ? ” inquired Mr. Buncom, 
observing my condition. 

“ Oh, nothing,” I replied with a sigh. 

Mr. Anderson took the child in his arms and said, 
“ This is Miss Lucinda Belinda Black rinda Anderson.” 

“ Amen ! ” shouted a sailor with reverend-like sincerity. 

Bahwahgun took the babe in his great brawny arms, 
and called it sweet names. Bahwahgun, though a savage, 
was too honorable to harm a woman or a child. A heathen, 
the Christian monde would call him, but he never, so far as 
I know, crimsoned his hands with the blood of women or 
children. In the name of the Lord he never murdered a 
single soul. What his religious views were, I never made 


The Fountain of Youth. 


221 


an inquiry, but I do know he never harmed one hair of 
our heads because we were of a different creed than his 
own. Among ourselves, especially, till after the death of 
Mr. Levy, there existed a religious hatred. If Mr. Levy 
had had the power, as I once heard him say, he would kill 
the last one of us because we were Gentiles. Mr. Morrisey 
once asked me to grant him the favor of killing the Jew, 
and I asked what he had done. He replied that his 
ancestors murdered our Redeemer, and he wanted to take 
revenge on Mr. Levy. I told him he was prejudiced. Then 
lie gave me to understand he had been taught that all those 
who did not believe in his creed — Roman Catholic — were 
heretics, and ought to be put to death in the name of the 
Lord. Not long after this, Mr. Westman wanted my con- 
sent to his killing of Mr. Morrisey. I asked upon what 
grounds his murderous inclinations were based. He 
replied he was a Protestant, and that his religious views 
urged him to slay, in the name of the Lord, all those of a 
different creed. Lib took great interest in the babe, and 
neglected his cooking. For this I scolded him, and he 
wept. Mrs. Anderson said she would do our cooking, 
providing I would let Lib mind the child. I replied that 
she might keep Lib for a nurse. Lib was delighted, and 
made a first-rate nurse, good as the best Mongolian nurse 
to be found here in San Francisco. At length we went to 
work again, and got over two more tons of gold. I became 
fagged out, and declared another season of holidays. It 
was in this season we concluded to search for the wonder- 
ful fountain. Our party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. 
Anderson, Lib as nurse, Mr. Buncom and myself. This 
fountain, as Mrs. Anderson said, lay in the foot-hills 
beyond Bahwahguntown. On reaching this town in 
question, we put up at the Purple X House a few days, and 
devoted our time to sight-seeing. The sights were thus: 
A new stone building, eighteen by twenty feet, eight foot 
wall — sod-roofed — the result of two years of labor of five 
men. I thought this was almost the slowest constructed 
building I ever heard of. The builders were inert enough 
for government services. An indolent laborer generally 
takes to the railway grade ; when too lazy for this he becomes 
an employee of Uncle Sam, and when too indolent to serve 
his easy master, starves himself to death, being too lazy to 


222 


Captain Kiddle. 


place food to bis mouth. On leaving Bahwahguntown, we 
took the road leading to the farm. Here we beheld the 
noble sons of the soil in the shade of the corn, enjoying a 
game at draw poker. How I wished I had them aboard 
the Boreas again. As I watched the game, I saw nothing 
remarkable about it. It was about all they could do to 
draw their breath, without the poker. 

“ This cursed slavery is almost working me to death,” 
yawned Mr. Westman. “I am stiff er from work than a 
street-car horse.” 

“ So am I,” added Mr. Hannah, lying on the ground 
half asleep. 

Mr. Wilcox was about to say something, and observed 
our party. Said he,” Halloo, Captain, you look splendid.” 

“ I guess you do not have to work much, nowadays,” 
put in Mr. Westman between many yawns. 

“ Oh no,” replied I, “ only carrying a back-load of gold 
about all day, making a pack mule of myself.” 

Above Mr. Westman hung a ripe ear of corn, the 
largest I ever saw, fully eight feet long and three feet in 
diameter. 

u Captain,” continued Mr. Westman, “you see that ear 
of corn up there ? ” 

“ Yes.” 

“ Old Bahwahgun makes each one of us husk an ear 
and carry it home, constituting a dav’s labor which almost 
kills us.” 

“ What will an average ear weigh ? ” 

“ One hundred and fifty pounds.” 

“ How far do you have to carry it.” 

“Not quite one mile.” 

“ Then a day’s labor consists of less than a two mile 
walk laden with one hundred and fifty pounds half that 
distance.” 

“ J nst so and it is awful.” 

“ What do you think of a person making ninet}^ miles 
with one hundred and twenty-five pounds on his back half 
the distance, in twelve hours’ time?” 

“ An impossibility ; who was it ? ” 

“The Jew/’ 

“ What did he carry ? ” 

“ Gold.” 


The Fountain of Youth. 


22S 


“Whose?” 

“ His own.” 

“ Oh, that was an inducement. I would be willing to 
make that distance every day with such a load upon my* 
back, for a single pound of gold.” 

“ There are sixteen tons yet to move, and I will give you 
one ton for transporting it.” 

“ Captain, to tell the truth, I would not move it for the 
whole pile. I am now living just the sort of life I travelled 
the world over to find. I intend to stay here the remain- 
der of my life. I am married and am happy as can be.” 

Mr. Westman liked to take life easy, and besides was a 
great lover of female society, in which he often ventured 
too far, according to the ideas of a moralist. At New 
Orleans he entered into my service. He had come from 
York State, to this city in question, accompanied with a 
married woman, Mrs. Orlando Kildoy, I think was her 
name. On going through with all the money she had 
taken from her husband, this gay masher deserted her,, 
and shipped with me to escape punishment. 

“Captain, I will accept that offer,” spoke Mr. Wilcox, 
“ providing Bahwahgun will let me off.” 

Mr. Wilcox, a lad of twenty, youngest of the sailors, 
was shrewd and intelligent. He had entered in my ser- 
vices to obtain means to complete his education, fitting 
himself for an attorney-at-law. He would have made an 
eminent barrister, as he was a natural orator. 

“All right, Johnny” (we often called him by his given 
name), “ I will make the right arrangements with 
Bahwahgun.” 

We started on, going up a wash that bore off consider- 
ably to the right. It was nearly two miles across, and 
comparatively level. The gravel was soft, and mixed with 
sand, greatly impeding our headway. We kept along the 
right-hand bank, a mass of rock standing on end. Not a 
tree or bush grew along the bank. The sun shining upon 
the white sand — after the patch of gravel came a patch of 
sand — dazzled us. We began to get thirsty, and soon 
drank what little water we had along. On we trudged ; 
the sand got into my boots, which were full of holes, my 
best pair too, and chafed my feet raw. 


224 Captain Kiddle. 

I sat down to empty the sand from my boots, and de- 
clared I would go no further. 

“ Do not go back,” said Mr. Anderson, “ for the worst 
of our journey is over.” 

“ What fools we are, trying to find something that never 
existed outside of romance and poetry.” 

“It is rather discouraging, Captain,” remarked Mr. 
Buncom, sinking deep in the sand. 

We went on. I became mad with myself, and thought 
cuss words. To prevent my tongue from uttering them, 
I repeated : 

“ O who hath not heard the story forsooth 
Of Ponce de Leon seeking the Fountain of Youth, 

Mid Florida’s many a stagnant pool ? 

But he found it not — the old fool. 

He found it not where Spanish moss hangs 
O’er water’s brow, like a lady’s bangs, 

Not in the mud where alligators creep, 

Where swamp fever its vigil keeps. 

“ He found it not ’mid blooming flowers 
That blossom in wintery bowers, 

But found it when short was his breath, 

And gazed upon it through the portal of Death.” 

Mr. Anderson thought cuss words, too, and uttered 
them. Mr. Buncom began limping, his knee giving out a 
little, and said : “ Captain, this is rather a foolish under- 
taking.” 

“ I am aware of that.” 

“'My knee begins paining intensely.” 

“Wait till you bathe in that fountain, and it will be 
supple as a ballet dancer’s.” 

Lib with little Lucinda in his arms was about exhausted, 
and the mother took her babe. 

“ Mrs. Anderson,” I asked, “ how much further is that 
wonderful fountain ? •” 

“ It is,” replied she, “ if I am not mistaken, beyond that 
white peak,” pointing out a sharp peak some ten miles 
further on. “ It is more than thirty years since I passed 
over this road, which is so altered by heavy rains that I 
am quite at a loss to tell just how far away it is.” 

“ You say it is over thirty years since you were along 
liere. You do not look over twenty.” 


The Fountain of Youth . • 


225 


“ I am fifty-five and — ” 

“ The devil you are ! ” interrupted her husband. “ I 
thought I had married a young girl, instead of a woman 
almost old enough for my grandmother.” 

“ I was taken captive by Bahwahgun’s father fifty years 
ago. Being so young I could not remember much of tra- 
dition concerning the fountain. At ten years of age I 
began searching for it, and did not find it till I was twenty- 
five.” 

This had a wonderful effect upon me, for it assured me 
that the fountain actually existed. Ponce de Leon did not 
figure accurately when locating the fountain in the lati- 
tude and longitude of Florida. 

“ Eh, Mr. Buncom, that leg of 3'ours will soon be well 
again.” 

“ Look yonder,” said Mr. Anderson, pointing out three 
deer, not more than one hundred and fifty yards to our 
left. They were nearly abreast, going very slow. The 
one in the middle staggered along like Mr. Levy beneath 
his load the last afternoon of his life. Presently it dropped 
to the ground, lying flat upon the side, groaning. It was 
almost white, so gray with age. Mr. Anderson wanted to 
shoot those standing by its side, but I would not let him, 
as I wanted to observe the design of these creatures. 
Presently the old deer got upon its feet. The one on the 
right side interlocked antlers with it. The other one got 
behind, and boosted with its antlers. The sight was so 
comical that we all laughed. The deer paid no heed to 
our presence, and went on a little faster than ourselves. 

“ What does that mean?” inquired Mr. Buncom of me. 

“They are also seeking the Fountain of Youth.” 

The deer was so old it could no longer roam the forest 
and hills, and in extreme old age had come to get rejuve- 
nated in the fountain. Down fell the decrepit beast again, 
and we left them behind. We crossed the wash and turned 
to the left, and were soon upon a broad road in an excel- 
lent state of preservation. The road ran originally along 
the bed of the wash, and now is buried hundreds of feet 
beneath sand and gravel. Why it was not built along the 
hillside I do not know. According to tradition, when the 
road was built the land was level. The road itself showed 
an upheaval, for it leaned first to the right and then to the 

15 


226 


Captain Kiddle. 

left. Where one sag joined on to the other there was 
generally a fissure — some being fifty feet wide. Dirt and 
stone washed from the hill above had filled them up pretty 
much. Up a steep grade we ascended for about five miles 
and then reached the summit. The road was thrown up 
like the roof of a house, sloping at one-third pitch for 
three hundred feet each way. We got upon the summit 
by steps made in the rock with claws and hoofs of wild 
beasts. I looked behind and saw the deer coming. The 
one we left boosting was now on the other side rendering 
assistance with its antlers. They appeared about ex- 
hausted. The two younger ones left the old one lying 
down and came on ahead to reconnoiter. They stood at 
the bottom of the pitch shaking their heads, as if in doubt 
as to whether they could get over. They went back to 
the old one, which tried to get up, and on making several 
attempts lay still again. One got on each side, placed its 
antlers under the belly?', and lifted it upon its feet. One 
helped it on with its antlers, and the other boosted. When 
at the bottom of the pitch the head one unlocked its ant- 
lers, dropped back behind and boosted the other one. On 
resting a moment, they made an effort and reached the 
summit whereon we stood. The boosters went down the 
other side and came up one behind the other. The old 
deer placed its antlers against those of the foremost one. 
The two began backing, letting the old one down gently. 
At the bottom of the pitch they rested as on the other 
side, the old one lying down. We passed them by so close 
that I touched one on the back with an outstretched arm. 
Had I not seen this with my own eyes, such regard shown 
old age by animals, I would not have believed it. How 
many young and vigorous there are who treat the aged 
and infirm with contempt — often doing all in their power 
to get them out of the way, especially if there is any prop- 
erty to inherit. Once I used to think that the children 
who laughed at Elijah’s bald head, glistening in the sun, 
were punished too severely by the Lord, who had them 
devoured by two she bears. It was an example the Lord 
set, one that has not been forgotten for over ten thousand 
years, that age is to be respected. Once I laughed at an 
old man’s bald head, and for a long time afterward was 
terribly afraid of a she bear in a dime museum. When I 


The Fountain of Pouth . 


227 


beheld that she bear I shot on the ice, I was afraid it had 
come to devour me for making fun of that bald-headed man 
nearly fifty years previous. For four miles we descended 
a grade about as steep as that which we caine up, and en- 
tered a beautiful valley. Birds of song filled the air with 
strange, sweet music, and honey bees, large as humming 
birds, flew from flower to flower. Exotic flowers to my 
botanic knowledge bloomed everywhere. The most con- 
spicuous was a mammoth rose, about as large round as the 
bottom of a wash-tub and iris-colored. It grew on a bush, 
rather a tree, three feet in diameter and forty feet tall. 
At the height of twenty feet it shot out many branches. 
Hundreds of roses were in full bloom, and double that 
number opening, while the buds were almost innumerable. 
The air was as fragrant as if all the perfumery of a whole- 
sale perfumery dealer had burst its bottles and mounted 
the breeze. A short way off I discovered the amaranth 
growing upon a heap of finely broken-up stone. It grew 
upon a stalk about the size of a sunflower, and resembled a 
pond lily. The fragrance was incomparable. I know of 
nothing that resembled it. I gathered all its flowers I 
could carry handy, and long as I had them in my posses- 
sion, over two years, they were as bright and fragrant as 
the moment I plucked them. This valley is a depression 
in the foot-hills, or the hills were thrown up around it. A 
deep, narrow, rock walled gulch led off westerly, carrying 
off the water that fell in rains, or it would have become a 
small lake. I named it Paradise Valley. We rounded a 
small cliff and stood before a marble bluff rising several 
hundred feet perpendicular, and it was as smooth as if fin- 
ished by a marble worker. Across the island runs a belt 
of marble, cropping out at Bun com Falls and here. These 
are the only places I noticed it on this side the mountains. 

“ The fountain is there,” said Mrs. Anderson, pointing 
to the foot of the bluff. 

We went on a few paces and I saw a small stream, about 
what would fill an inch pipe, coming from a mass of mud 
which seemed to have fallen from above the marble bluff, 
upon which lay several hundred feet of alluvial deposit. 
The stream settled in a quagmire, a first-rate hog wallow. 

“ Captain,” said Mrs. Anderson, “ no doubt you are dis- 
appointed, as you look, for the fountain is in a miserable 


228 


Captain Kiddle. 

condition. It is covered up with at least two hundred feet 
of earth. According to tradition, it sent up a column one 
foot across it high in the air, and fell in a great reservoir it 
had made for itself in falling thousands of years on the 
marble. The stream is much stronger than it was thirty 
years ago.” 

The deer had now arrived ; the old one staggered into 
the mud and went out of sight except the nose. 

That is the last of you, old fellow,” said Mr. Buncom. 

After five minutes time, it lifted its head above the sur- 
face and shook off the mud. Out it came, shook itself, 
leaped in the air exulting over its new life, and bounded, 
away like the wind. The others started on after it, but 
could not overtake it. 

“ Wonderful, wonderful ! ” I said. “ The Hot Springs of 
Arkansas are nowhere in comparison to this.” 

A bullfrog fully ten feet long came down the path, 
dragging its hind legs along, which seemed paralyzed. It 
drank of the water, and crawled in the mud. Presently it 
began croaking as if trying to sing, like the frog that lived 
in the spring. It then came out and drew its hind legs up 
in a leaping posture. It seemed in doubt as to whether 
they were to be depended upon. I stepped toward it. 
With a leap it sprung up and onward, stretching out its 
long legs to guide itself. It struck in the path one hundred 
yards away. It reminded me of Mr. Sanborn’s leap from 
the iceberg. Mrs. Anderson went behind a clump of trees 
while her husband took a bath. I being a timid man, 
agreed to go in providing he came out safe and sound. Mr. 
Buncom being more timid on this occasion than myself, 
said he would go in after me. I could see nothing of Mr. 
Anderson but his nose and mouth above the muddy sur- 
face. From his upper lip I saw the hair fall as fall the 
bristles from the back of a scalded swine. Mr. Buncom 
looked frightened, and began reading his Testament. 
Presently Mr. Anderson stuck his head up out the mud 
and spit out a mouthful of something black. A portion 
of it fell at my feet, I examined, and lo ! I beheld several 
badly decayed double teeth. 

“ Mr. Anderson, open your mouth.” 

He did so, exhibiting as fine a set of teeth as one would 
wish for. He scraped the mud from his face, and with the 


The Fountain of Youth. 


229 


mud came his beard. He washed his face, and I beheld the 
countenance of a youth barely nineteen. The hair on his 
head was thick, fine and of a light-brown color. He washed 
the mud from his body, and donned his clothes. His man- 
ners were so estranged that he seemed a total stranger. 

“ Captain,” said he, in a bashful sort of way, “ it is truly 
wonderful. You cannot imagine how young and happy I 
feel. My rheumatism is gone, and where is my wife ? ” 

I told him, and he went thence. 

“Oh, husband,” said she, placing her arms about his 
neck, “ I knew it would make you young again.” 

He clasped her to his bosom and gazed on her with eyes 
aglow with the love of youth. I made an attempt to doff 
my clothes, but decided not to do so, for the pool looked 
so muddy and treacherous. However, I rolled up my 
pants high as I could, and put in my right leg, immersing 
it above the knee. I felt the rheumatism leave through 
the end of my great toe, and then I drew my leg out. As 
I stated, I intended to become a dancing master ; again the 
passions of Terpsichore seized me in this leg. 

“ Mr. Anderson,” said I, “ whistle a dancing tune.” 

He did so, and I began dancing. How I danced ! My 
leg could not shake fast enough. I ceased only after my 
other leg became exhausted. While indulging in this 
frivolous sport, Mr. Buncom rolled up his pants and ap- 
plied mud to his lame knee, effecling a complete cure. 
Had I not been so trifling, to-day I might exult in perpetual 
youth like Apollo. This fountain renders mortals invul- 
nerable to disease but not against accidents, or death by 
violence. When ready to immerse my other leg, it began 
raining. We sought shelter beneath the huge rose-tree, 
which shed water like an umbrella. How it stormed ! It 
was a cloud-burst more than a rain-storm. A rumble 
shook the earth. 

“ That is a land-slide,” said Mrs. Anderson. “ I am 
afraid the fountain is covered up completely, as the earth 
above it did not look at all secure.” 

After storming for six hours it cleared off quickly as it 
came on. We saw that the fountain was buried beneath 
a mass of earth that came almost up to the top of the 
marble bluff. 

“ We came just in time to see for ourselves that such a 


230 


Captain Kiddle. 

fountain actually exists,” said Mr. Anderson, “ and Captaj^S 
after we get back to civilization, we will bring up a whole 
ship-load of laborers and put the fountain in shape, like 
it was originally.” 

“ Providing we reach civilization.” 

We started homeward. That rejuvenated leg of mine 
wanted to run or dance all the while, and it was almost as 
disagreeable as rheumatism. A stream flowed down the 
wash, running from one side to the other, compelling us to 
wade it about every half mile. Mr. Anderson, now young 
and strong, took up his wife and child and carried them 
across the stream each time. His tongue in singing love 
songs was as great a novelty as my dancing leg. When 
we got back to the farm, we met Bahwahgun who wanted 
to know where we found that boy (meaning Mr. Anderson). 
We told him it was Mr. Anderson. 

“ If it is Anderson,” said he, “ let him show the Purple X, 
as you slaves call my mark of honor.” 

Mr. Anderson took of his hat, and the “ mark of honor” 
was brighter than when made. Bahwahgun seemed to 
doubt his own eyes. 

“ What do you think now ? ” I asked the perplexed old 
savage. 

“ It must be Anderson ; but what makes him so young? ” 

“ Ah, that is a secret of the white man.” 

I had not much trouble in getting Bahwahgun to let 
Mr. Wilcox carry gold to our boat. He came on with us, 
carrying one hundred pounds. He worked diligently, 
making four loads a day, and one hundred pounds perload. 
After a long while, I did not note the number of days, he 
brought it all over. His diligence and kindness won 
Bahwahgun’s admiration, who honored him with a Black 
X, a degree lower than the Purple X. 


Monstrous Sea Serpents. 


231 


CHAPTER XXII. 

MONSTROUS SEA SERPENTS. 

For several days ensuing our return from the fountain 
I had seen nothing of the Esquimau. The last seen of him 
was when he went down on the marsh to gather some grass. 
I became alarmed, and instituted a search party, but could 
not find the faintest trace of him. However, one day we 
discovered a saw-log-like made track coming from the river 
and passing in the woods. This made me fear he had been 
devoured by a sea-serpent, that is, if a serpent had made 
tins peculiar course which the savages said was made by 
one. Each savage smeared his body with a sort of pitchy 
substance from a vine found on the marsh, very offensive 
to the smell. The stench was sickening. I made inquiry 
why they did this, and was told it was to keep the serpents 
from devouring them, as the serpents shrunk from the 
smell. No wonder the serpents did, and the only beings 
that could endure it were themselves. Bahwahgun brought 
some of the preparation for me to anoint myself with ; I 
told him that when I was ready to die, I wanted at least 
one breath of pure air. Despite the disagreeable odor, one 
savage was missing. A serpent hunt was now the absorb- 
ing topic. I noticed that the savages did not view it as 
anything pleasurable. I began to regard it as a serious 
matter myself. All I could learn from Bahwahgun was 
that a serpent, invariably a pair of them, came out the sea 
about this season of tlieyear, and that the female deposited 
a large number of eggs in a warm, sandy soil, in the neigh- 
borhood of the beach. When the eggs were hatched, the 
savages pre} r ed upon the young serpents, which they prize 
highly as food. The old serpents were a terror to both 
man and beast while out upon land. The savages generally 
managed to put up with the audacity of their unwelcome 
visitors till after the eggs were hatched, and then waged 
war against them in earnest. Sometimes the serpents 
devoured six or eight savages before the eggs hatched. 


232 Captain Kiddle. 

This information made me more timid than the savages, 
who never left home now without their arms. Mr. Bun- 
com flew to arms, arming fiimself with his favorite weapon, 
an harpoon. Mr. Anderson borrowed my favorite rifle, 
which shot much stronger than his Winchester, and went 
everywhere. He became Bahwahgun’s body-guard. At 
times I noticed that Bahwahgun turned pale beneath his 
swarthy skin, at the sight of almost anything that looked 
like a serpent. During this reign of terror, for such it 
was, I occupied the time in fitting up a room for myself in 
the boat. The room was midships. It was six by eight 
feet, and, the ceiling, like that of King Solomon’s Temple, 
was covered with gold. The carpenter beat out the gold 
in ruts for me — he was also a good goldsmith. After the 
ceiling was covered, 1 covered the sides and even the floor. 
There was never a craft before, so far as history goes to 
show, with its commander’s quarters finished off like this. 
After this was done, we launched the boat, by Bahwahgun’s 
permission, and loaded her with gold, making a full cargo. 
Bahwahgun finally consented to allow Mr. Buncom, Ander- 
son, Wilcox and myself to sail up and down the river. 
While we did so he placed a guard over my men so that 
they would not try to escape. He was aware we would 
not leave without our entire crew. Lucinda was a fine 
sailing craft, and outsailed anything lever saw of her size 
and build. I could never induce Bahwahgun to go aboard, 
for he was afraid the craft would sink. In a canoe that I 
would not have trusted myself on water deeper than enough 
to float it, he would face the roughest kind of a sea. He 
was a first-rate canoe commander, and would not hesitate 
to attack a man of war with one. At length the serpent 
scare wore off, and I became one of Bahwahgun’s body- 
guard. Then Mr. Buncom and Wilcox also became 
bodyguards. We presented a warlike appearance. Mr. 
Anderson, as I stated, carried my favorite rifle, and the 
time that Mr. Buncom and Wilcox joined the guard, added 
to his arms the razor-back hand saw. Mr. Buncom carried 
a cutlass besides an harpoon. Mr. Wilcox carried the 
shot-gun loaded with slugs, and a pole axe. Bahwahgun 
carried a spear and war club and a double preparation of 
that disagreeable ointment, strong enough to be a most 
effective weapon. I carried my revolvers and a hunting 


Monstrous Sea Serpents. 233 

knife, that the carpenter made from a cutlass, in my left 
hoot leg. Sometimes I thought my heart was down there 
too. We marched up and down Main street, the onl} r 
street of the hamlet, four times each day to see if there 
were any signs of the enemy. I began to yearn for a sight 
of the serpents, which for some reason or other, kept con- 
cealed from view. However at length my desires were 
gratified. About midway the river, I saw a huge head 
rise above the surface, a white and black striped body 
seemed to leap up in the air fully one hundred feet, and 
come down with a splash, engendering waves that laved 
the banks as if a mighty side-wheeled steamboat was pass- 
ing up stream. 

This made my heart settle down in my boot below the 
point of the knife. I resigned my position as body-guard, 
and a savage filled the vacancy till he, poor fellow, was 
swallowed alive, of which I will shortly speak. Our sup- 
plies were getting low; soon we must either face the egre- 
gious serpents or starvation, twin brother to grim death. 
If I had depended upon my own resources for food, I would 
have had many fasting days, far more than the calendar 
calls for. Mr. Buncom would have been next to me ; not 
that he was timid, but his large stature and age rendered 
him inactive. Where a serpent missed me ninety-nine times 
out of every hundred, it would be sure to catch him the 
number of times I escaped. My small physique and ac- 
tivity would have made me a difficult fly to catch. Even 
if I do say it there are few men of my age, fifty-one years, 
more active and supple than myself. Bahwahgun was a 
conspicuous object for his serpentship, and he was aware 
of the fact. At length food became scarce, and we turned 
out the male populace (Lib stayed at home ; he was so 
effeminate that 1 often thought of putting petticoats on 
him) and went in the forest for game. Bahwahgun killed 
four bears in his favorite way, by picking one up and dash- 
ing it down on the other. He must have practiced the 
peculiar way of slaughter for years, or he could not pos- 
sibly have become so proficient. Mr. Anderson got six 
deer and Mr. Wilcox two dozen turkeys. One savage 
took three ground hogs, another four raccoons, another — 
though two claimed the honor of killing it — a wood rat, 
another, three bats that he got from beneath a piece of 


234 


Captain Kiddle . 

bark hanging from the trunk of a dead tree, and lastly, 
one, a pole cat. With this trophy he seemed more pleased 
than Bahwahgun with all his bears. I thought that the 
disagreeable odor characterizing this animal was wanting, 
but the serpent repeller on the savage’s body was so offen- 
sive that it was unnoticeable. The trophy I bore was a 
large, long-legged mosquito, larger than a Florida swamp 
gallinipper, which I killed while drawing life blood from 
the nape of my neck. We started homeward well pleased 
at our success. Those carrying the game Bahwahgun put 
in advance ; should a serpent be encountered the carcasses 
could be dropped, giving us a chance to escape while it 
devoured them. Mr. Anderson, who nearly ran his legs 
off in hunting deer, declared he did not hunt to feed ser- 
pents and if one was met it could begin on him first. He 
stepped in front the game bearers. We told him he was 
meditating suipide, and would consider it such if a ser- 
pent got him. *He replied we might consider it whatever 
we chose to oall it. Mr. Wilcox, with clothes hanging in 
shreds torn by the underbrush among which he shot the 
turkeys, remarked he wanted the first pick of the wish- 
bone of his game, and went to the front. Just then an 
impulse almost bore me to the front. It was not to protect 
my game, which I carried on a piece of bark in my hand, 
but it was a heroic impulse, such as prompts the soldier to 
face the cannon mouth and look down its brazen throat 
coolly as a physician examining a patient of diphtheria. I 
fell out of rank and went forward far as midway the game 
bearers. I saw the rat carried by two savages. They had 
a pole over their shoulder, in the center of which the rat 
hung, fastened by the tail. They made more fuss over car- 
rying it than Mr. Harry and Morrisev, who carried a bear. 
The carpenter bore the turkeys. At his side was the 
savage who killed the pole cat. He carried it in his arms, 
and sniffed of it occasionally. I fell back to my old place 
beside Mr. Bun com and said, “ What a feast we will have.” 

“ Yes,” replied he, hesitatingly, “but something else may 
have first choice. I should think so myself; but with 
Mr. Anderson ahead of me I would not be afraid to de- 
scend into the lower regions.” 

“ Young Wilcox is also equally as brave, and what a fine 
statesman he would make in the future, not afraid to 


Monstrous Sea Serpents. 235 

lead his party anywhere, and he has a bright future, I am 
sure.” 

W e were pretty close home when a scream, that of a 
female’s voice, rent the air. Then a number of voices 
sounded, among which we recognized Mrs. Anderson’s. 
Mr. Anderson and Wilcox ran on ahead. Bahwahgun 
started, but his courage failed him. He like myself, felt 
safer behind the game bearers. We saw several women, 
Bahwahgun’s wives, he had brought them all over to Ship- 
yardville, standing before Anderson’s cabin, shrieking at 
the top of their voice. Something was up. Nothing but 
the presence of the evil one or a serpent could make such 
an uproar. I saw a great black and white object coming 
down Main street, almost filling the street. A great mouth 
opened ; horrors ! a forked tongue, fully fifty feet long, 
darted out and sent Mr. Wilcox rolling through the dust. 
Then a tail swept back and forth, breaking down every 
tree in its reach. The report of my favorite rifle rang on 
the air, then Mr. Anderson ran and jumped upon the ser- 
pent’s neck (the serpent was killed instantly), and walked 
down its long body. We all ran forward, with the excep- 
tion of the game bearers. Wonderful! in Main street lay 
the carcass of a sea-serpent two hundred and twenty-five 
feet long, girting around the body sixty feet. A ball from 
Mr. Anderson’s rifle had taken effect in the head midway 
between the eyes, penetrating the brain. The serpent was 
black and white, with stripes running around the body 
instead of lengthwise, and each stripe was four feet wide. 
The skin was smooth and glossy. On observing the tail 
from the head, at first I thought it had rattles on, like the 
common rattlesnake. But the tail was of a horny sub- 
stance, spear-shaped, fifteen feet long, and four feet wide 
where it joined on the flesh, coming to a needle-like point. 
This was its weapon of offense and defense. The savages 
gathered round the carcass, danced and shouted the same 
as when I shot my first fudyick. Bahwahgun, wild with 
joy, placed Mr. Anderson upon his shoulders, and ran up 
and down the serpent’s back. Mrs. Anderson came out ; 
he took her and little Lucinda up in his arms, and with 
Mr. Anderson still upon his shoulders walked up and 
down the serpent’s back three times. When Mrs. Ander- 
son had returned to her cabin I sought her presence to 


236 


Captain Kiddie. 

learn something more of these sea-serpents, and also of the 
savages’ ebullition of joy. 

Said she, “These sea-serpents have infested this island 
ever since Bahwahgun’s race conquered it, devouring 
many savages annually. They consider it great fortune to 
kill one of them. This is the first one killed for ten years. 
From the skin they make their canoes, such as you now see 
in use. They eat the flesh, and long as it lasts there is a 
protracted feast.” 

“Boat-building, rather canoe-making, will soon pre- 
occupy us all.” 

“Yes, and 1 learn that as soon as some canoes are made 
they intend to make a voyage to the island of my folk. 
For this reason, I am sorry the serpent is dead, but, had it 
not been killed, it would have infested these premises till 
it devoured us all, or till we left them. The reason why 
the savages live in Bah wahgun town, as you call it, is that 
these serpents never molest them there.” 

The savages began cutting the skin down the back. It 
was two feet thick and very tough. When the skin was 
stripped from the sides of the carcass, it was stretched 
tight as possible and fastened to stakes driven in the 
ground to prevent it from shrinking. Then they began 
cutting up the carcass. This interested me, for I was 
anxious to learn if it had a double stomach like the 
monster that swallowed us. It had but one stomach, 
and I do not think it was of the same species, for this 
one had a forked tongue, while the monster had a 
straight tongue. This was all I wished to see, and went 
to my cabin, where Mr. Wilcox was. The thrust from 
the serpent’s tongue had knocked the wind out of him. 

“ Well, Johnny, my boy, how are you feeling?” 

“ Rather sore, Captain.” 

Mr. Buncom came in and said it was a female serpent, 
and that we had to be cautious, for its mate would probably 
pay us a visit at almost any hour. When the carcass 
was cut up, a great heap of whitish meat lay in the 
middle of the street, beside which a large hole was 
being dug. I fet inclined to stop the work, as some- 
body might fall in it and injure himself. The hole 
was filled with the meat. The head, tail, and en- 
trails were cast in the river. I managed to fish out 


Monstrous Sea Serpents . 237 

the tail, hoping to get it home and place it among my 
relics. The feast began. In the meantime ten earthen 
pots, six feet high and the same number of feet across the 
top, were filled with serpent meat and boiled. When 
cooked, it was white and tender. I tasted some and, 
strange to say, it was sweet and almost delicious as spring 
chicken. Every inhabitant of Baliwahguntown was over. 
I never saw human beings eat the way they did. On eat- 
ing their fill they were very stupid. We could have made 
our escape during the feast had the agriculturists come 
over to Shipyardville. The truth of the matter was, they 
were too indolent to walk this far. I learned the fact by 
sending Mr. Wilcox to inform them of a chance to escape. 
With the exception of Mr. Sanborn, they sent back word 
that the)’ were ready providing I would send some sort of 
conveyance to bring them over. I concluded if they 
cared so little for liberty, they had better remain in 
slavery. It was now too late for the feast was over. 
The ground on which Shipyardville stands contains a great 
deal of saltpetre. Meat was kept perfectly good by digging 
a hole and putting it in the hole. Water soaked in and 
formed a brine. Bahwahgun ordered a hut built where 
Mr. Levy was buried. I tried to get him to build across 
the street, but he would not listen to me, and began the 
building upon the grave. Mr. Anderson and Wilcox took 
up the body, which was pickled in first-class shape. We 
removed the remains up toward the falls, where a marble 
wall rises perpendicularly for nearly one thousand feet. 
The carpenter inscribed Mr. Levy’s name, age, and date of 
Lis obit on the wall, which we named Levy’s Monument. 
He has the honor of the highest monument, sacred to 
one’s memory, in the world. It was a pleasant spot, and 
just the right place for a burying ground. Mrs. Ander- 
son, having brought a slip of the big rose-tree from Paradise 
Valley, planted it at the head of the grave, and it was sur- 
prising how fast it grew. The last time I saw the slip it 
was one foot in diameter, thirty feet tall and just beginning 
to bloom. On the grave, in an old boot for a vase, I 
placed two amaranths. Their odor always made the air 
fragrant. Had it not been for the amaranths in my cabin 
the stench of the snake repelling ointment would have re- 
pelled me. The serpent skin was now dry, soft and pliable. 


238 


Captain Kiddle. 


Bahwahgun measured it carefully and orderedthe carpenter 
to cut a tree of about two hundred feet in length. What 
he wanted of such a tree as this, I could not imagine. 
The carpenter whetted his axe with a slatey looking stone 
on which he used oil. In no time he put on a razor-like 
edge. I thought it would be good for my razor, as it 
needed grinding, and besides my strop was rendered 
almost useless by sea water. The carpenter told me to be 
careful or I might whet my razor away before I was aware 
of it. I knew what the razor would stand, for I had a 
razor grinder grind on it two hours and he pronounced it 
remarkable material. I oiled the stone, and began whetting 
the instrument. It wore away before my eyes like ice 
melts over a hot fire. There was nothing left of it but 
the back, on which I tried to put an edge. After a few 
digs on the stone it wore in two, leaving nothing but the 
handle. The carpenter, not feeling very well, as he had 
eaten too much serpent meat and drunk considerable of 
intoxicating drink, did not go out for two days afterwards. 
He was not gone long before he Came back bareheaded and 
scared almost out of his wits. Soon as he could speak, he 
said he saw a serpent. This created another excitement. 
All eyes were turned in the direction of Levy’s Monument, 
near which he said it was. We looked and looked, but 
could see nothing. W e considered the scare as a grand April 
fool, for this was on All Fools’ Day. Lib, standing in front 
of Mr. Anderson’s, shrieked and darted indoors. I ran for 
my cabin, and so did everybody else to theirs, except Mr. 
Anderson and Wilcox, who stood with their firearms 
ready for action. Down the street with tail in its mouth, 
forming a hoop one hundred feet in diameter and thirty 
feet broad, rolled a serpent. Swifter and swifter it came. 
Reader just imagine a hoop one hundred feet high and 
thirty feet wide formed by a sea-serpent rolling through the 
main street of your town, would not your hair stand on 
end as mine stood? When the serpent was opposite to 
Mr. Anderson’s he fired, and the moment after Mr. Wilcox 
discharged both barrels of slugs at the great hoop, which 
swayed to the right, going straight for my cabin. I 
jumped from the doorway the moment the serpent struck the 
cabin. High in the air almost as the great hoop itself 
flew logs in every direction. One fell upon three savages 


Monstrous Sea Serpents. 


239 


and crushed them to death. Another came down endwise 
through Mr. Anderson’s roof, and struck the cradle from 
which Lib took little Lucinda the moment my cabin was 
struck. When the slugs struck the serpent it relinquished 
hold of its tail and straightened out upon its back. Its tail 
struck Bahwahgun’s cabin and cut it in two as smoothly as 
the iceberg did our ship. One of Bahwahgun’s wives had 
the fingers of her left hand cut off below the second joint 
as she was about to blow her nose in the most approved 
masculine style. 


240 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

DEATH OF MR. BUNCOM. 

A torrent of blood gushed from the sea-serpent’s head 
und flowed down Main Street, Judas-coloring everything 
in its course, as if all the blood shed in the three days’ 
fight at Gettysburg was spilled on this particular spot. In 
fact, everything seemed 44 painted red.” Mr. Wilcox, with 
his deadly weapon at full cock, was the first to approach, 
which he did cautiously. 

44 By George ! ” said he, “ I hit the bull’s-eye in the cen- 
ter, that is, shot the serpent through the eye.” 

On seeing there was little or no danger, I advanced 
boldly, with a revolver in one hand and hunting knife in 
the other. As I took the knife from my boot-leg I felt my 
heart rise to its natural height, whereas a few minutes be- 
fore it and my great toe seemed struggling for possession 
of the toe of my boot. I was much afraid my heart would 
escape through the hole whence my toe protruded. 

“ Johnny, then you are really sure it is dead? ” 

“Yes, Captain.” 

I advanced to its nose, and was almost appalled at its 
gigantic size. Its tongue, between the forks of which Mr. 
Wilcox and I stood, was sixty feet long and six feet 
through at the fork. The contents of both barrels of the 
young hero’s gun had penetrated an eye and lodged in the 
brain. It was a remarkable shot, notwithstanding the eye 
being eighteen inches across. When he fired it was re- 
volving so fast I could see nothing of the head. There I 
stood, almost transfixed with wonder, never once thinking 
about Mr. Buncom, who was in the cabin when demol- 
ished. I became aware of the fact on hearing a groan 
from under the logs. 

44 Mr. Buncom, where are you?” I shouted, peering 
Simona- the logs. 

O o 


Death of Mr. Buncom. 


241 


A groan was the only reply. 

44 Mr. Anderson,” I called, 46 come here ; Mr. Buncom is 
buried alive in these ruins.” 

Mr. Anderson hastened across the street and began lift- 
ing the logs one side. He handled the largest of them 
with ease. The fountain not only endowed him with per- 
petual 3 r outh, but also with great strength. Shortly the 
debris was removed, except a long log, the ridge pole,, 
which was across Mr. Buncom’s stomach. When it was 
removed he drew several deep breaths and tried to get up,, 
but fell back again. Mr. Anderson carried him beneath 
the branches of a tree close at hand. While examining 
him to ascertain the extent of his injuries, I heard a voice, 
which I knew was Mr. Sanborn’s, calling out, 44 Cap’n.” 
I looked in every direction, and up in the air, thinking 
possibly he might be on a fudyick’s back. 

44 Cap’n,” came the voice again. 

This time it appeared to come from out the ground. I 
told Mr. Wilcox to look in the pit containing serpent meat. 
On doing so, he reported of seeing a female savage in there 
getting some meat. It was a positive thing that it was 
not her voice. 

44 Cap’n, I’s in hell,” sounded a voice seeming to come 
from the earth directly underfoot. Were I at all supersti- 
tious, I would have considered it some soul calling on mo 
for aid to escape from the place of eternal torment. 

44 Cap’n, dis am hell sure.” 

I now located the voice as coming from behind the ser- 
pent’s carcass. Mr. Wilcox went the entire length of tho 
monster, but saw no signs of anybody. 

44 Cap’n,” sounded the voice somewhat stronger. 

44 Captain,” said Mr. Wilcox, 44 1 am positive that voico 
comes from the serpent’s stomach.” 

He went to the serpent’s mouth and shouted down its 
throat, 44 Halloo ! man, beast, ghost, or what not, come out 
of that ! ” 

44 I’s cannot, for I’s in de dark,” came a voice. 

By this I ascertained that somebody was swallowed 
alive. Before I could get to the huge mouth, Mr. Wilcox 
had gone down its throat bearing a torch, which I beheld 
gleaming far down the neck. 

44 Another soul will soon be declaring himself in hell,” I 

16 


242 


Captain Kiddle . 

said to myself. I was about to call Mr. Anderson to res- 
cue Wilcox, when he crawled forth with Mr. Sanborn at 
his heels. He was not at all like the Mr. Sanborn of other 
days. His features were pinched and pale, wool and beard 
of snowy white ; sudden fear had changed their color. 
After a few moments his countenance resumed its nat- 
ural color, but the wool and beard, if anything, got whiter. 

“ Oh, Cap’n, I’s ole now,” he said, weeping over his 
premature gray hair. 

Then he told how he came to be swallowed alive, stat- 
ing that he was on his way to inform Bahwahgun the fud- 
yicks were so numerous and ravenous that they attacked a 
person soon as he ventured out of doors, and that they had 
already carried away four savages. When just below the 
falls he saw the serpent coming, and began running for his 
life. When not quite abreast of Levy’s Monument, he 
was swallowed, and knew nothing more till hearing us 
shout. 

Mr. Buncom was considerably better now, but com- 
plained of a pain in the left groin. I examined the locality 
of the pain, which centered in a small hole as if made by 
a bullet. I could not account for it. Mr. Anderson, 
Wilcox, and I examined the serpent’s head closely, but 
could not find where a rifle ball had struck it. Mr. An- 
derson was positive his ball did not go amiss. We exam- 
ined again, and in a corner of the mouth found a little 
half-round nick of about the size a bullet would make. 
Across the horny tail was a groove of the same size of the 
nick, which determined the result of the shot. It now be- 
came obvious that the wound in Mr. Buncom’s groin was 
inflicted by Mr. Anderson’s bullet, after passing through 
the serpent’s mouth. Mr. Anderson declared I was charg- 
ing him with premeditated murder, and was wroth. 

“ I will prove to you,” he said, “ that my bullet, if it 
sped on after striking the serpent, did not go anywhere 
near your cabin.” 

He stood in the same tracks as when firing the shot, and 
pointed his rifle as near as he could remember as in firing 
on the serpent. I stood where Mr. Buncom stood, about 
three feet from the door, when Mr. Anderson discharged 
his rifle. The rifle pointed at my ribs, which would take 
Mr. Buncom in the groin. 


Death of Mr. Buncom . 


243 


“ I will admit it now,” said Mr. Anderson, “ and it is a 
sad accident.” 

This made me much alarmed at Mr. Buncom’s condition. 
The injuries he received from falling timbers might be 
serious, but the bullet wound was, as 1 decided, fatal. 

“ Shall I probe for the bullet ? ” I asked. 

“ No,” replied Mr. Buncom, who had learned he was 
shot, “I think it would not be of any use. Now I am 
positive my time has come. When my leg was broken and 
in its worst state, my hopes of recovery never swerved at 
all, but I feel differently now. For a while back a voice, 
perchance that of fate, in which I candidly believe, has 
said time and time again, ‘Prepare to meet thy God.’ ” 

“ Do not become faint-hearted. You know the old say- 
ing, 4 long as life there is hope,’ and it is a true one.” 

We carried Mr. Buncom to Mr. Anderson’s cabin, where 
he was made comfortable. There was not a “ lack of wo- 
man’s nursing and a dearth of woman’s tears,” for Mrs. 
Anderson watched over him with the vigil of an hospital 
nurse, and shed tears as if in anticipation of the death 
of her dearest relation on earth. Under her care he im- 
proved, and there was a hope of recovery. While his con- 
dition was favorable, we thought it a good season to go 
over to Bahwahguntown and exterminate the fudyicks. 
Mr. Sanborn could not be induced to go with us. About 
all we saw of him nowadays was his white woolly head 
peering from the doorway, looking up and down the street 
to see whether a serpent was in sight. Before his eyes a 
stick lying on the ground seemed to metamorphose into a 
serpent larger than the one that swallowed him. He talked 
continually about serpents, and dreamed of them. He had 
serpents in the head, larger and more horrible than those 
seen by an alcoholic demented person. 

We declared war against the fudyicks. I was captain, 
with the privileges of both a sea and military captain. 1 
could court-martial for desertion or cowardice, but we were 
all above committing the last-named offense. As captain 
I could go to the rear in time of battle, and seek safety 
wherever I might find it. If the enemy was about to cap- 
ture me, I could run fast as my legs would carry me. . On 
arriving at Bahwahguntown, we found the savages as timid 
as Mr. Sanborn, in fact more so. When kicking their way 


244 


Captain Kiddle. 

through the doorway, they stuck out their nose, and if any 
signs of danger were visible, got back again. While stick- 
ing her nose out, the belle of the town had almost the en- 
tire nose taken off by a fudyick. What little remained 
of the nasal organ was plenty large enough. We marched 
up and down the street singing patriotic songs, Mr. Wil- 
cox, in particular, who had a fine voice and knew more of 
this kind of songs than the Goddess of Liberty. We made 
patriotic speeches in the middle of the street, extolling the 
noble cause we were vindicating, and appealed for volun- 
teers. But nobody was patriotic enough to enlist under 
our gonfanon. Mr. Westman at length grew patriotic,, 
and asked if there was any chance for a hard-fighting* 
private to be promoted. I, the captain, informed him that 
promotion would amount to little or nothing. 

44 Well,” replied the patriot, “ I think I can play the role 
of a true hero by staying at home and minding the wants, 
of Alley.” 

“ Who is Alley ? ” 

44 Why, my dear wife. She reminds me so much of the 
lady you saw me with in New Orleans, whose given name 
is Alley, that I called my wife after her.” 

44 Trot out your Alley,” said Mr. Wilcox, who occasion- 
ally resorted to slang to express his ideas. 

After several minutes, out came 44 Alley,” an Amazon 
seven feet tall, of as stout build as Bahwahgun, and she 
was his sister. She had an unusually large mouth and 
nose, cheek bones higher than her brother’s ; in fact she 
was the ugliest-looking female on the island. Out came 
the doting husband and stood beside her, coming hardly 
up to her armpits. 

44 Come here, Bertie Frederick Ivildoy Westman,” called 
the husband. Out toddled a little half-breed of about two- 
years, I should judge. 44 We are the happiest family in 
the world. More happy than a sheriff with a jail full of 
culprits, among whom is a married man whose wife be- 
stows all her smiles upon the sheriff. Alley is a kind, good 
wife.” 

This made her smile. She spit out a mouthful of to- 
bacco spittle (women as well as men chew) and said, 44 You 
bet I am.” 

This disgusted us, and we departed, leaving the happy 


Death of Mr. Buncom. 


245 


family to their happiness. We were about to go into* 
quarters at the Purple X House, when we observed several 
fudyicks coming from the mountains. Straight they came 
towards us, not arching at all. When at short range Mr. 
Wilcox fired, killing one. Mr. Anderson then began firing, 
and killed the last one of them ; there were twelve in all. 
I felt disheartened, because I did not get in a single shot. 
Presently a single one came along. At my request Mr. 
Anderson shot it through the wing, breaking it, and down 
the fudyick came to the ground. 

“Now, Captain,” said Mr. Anderson, “there is a chance 
for one of your remarkable shots.” 

With drawn revolver I hastened toward the fudyick and 
it came at me with open mouth — just what I wanted. 
When trying to thrust the muzzle of the revolver in its 
mouth it grasped me by the left thigh with a talon, and I 
escaped with the loss of a pants leg. Then it attacked me, 
and would have killed me, for its talon was about my neck, 
had not Mr. Wilcox broke its neck with a blow from his 
gun. What a plight I was in ! minus of a pants leg, and 
blood running down my leg from four cuts the claws 
made. What if Mr. Buncom should get worse and send 
for me ? I could not go, for my modesty would never 
allow me to enter the presence of Mrs. Anderson in this 
plight. Dearly as I loved Mr. Buncom, I could not barter 
my modesty. We retired to the Purple X House elated 
over our victory, and I began trying to mend my pants. 
I had taken but a stitch or two when Lib, much out of 
wind from running, came in and said, “ Buncom alle samee 
as dead man, comee quick.” 

We started for home. On taking a few steps I stopped, 
for till now I had forgotten my plight. 

“ Captain, what is the matter ? ” inquired Mr. Ander- 
son. 

“ My modesty will never permit me to enter the pres- 
ence of your wife in this condition.” 

“ There is no time to consider such trifles ; come along.” 

I went on, but much against my will. We ran till be- 
coming exhausted. When we entered the presence of Mrs. 
Anderson, if she saw my pantless leg she did not seem to 
notice it. One look at Mr. Buncom told me his end was 
close. 


246 


C apt am Kiddle. 

“ Captain,” said he, extending his hand, which fell limp 
before I could grasp it, “ my end is nigh. I am soon to 
embark on a sea whose other shore is far away, almost as 
many miles as the number of years that have rolled in eter- 
nity. I go, though on a strange voyage, millions have 
made it before me, millions and millions will after me, and 
after them millions and millions. All must make this 
mysterious voyage, till Angel Gabriel with one foot on the 
sea and the other on the shore, proclaims that time shall 
be no more. It is well that I have lived, and would to 
God that I could live my life over. How much I could 
improve it, for the follies of youth are seen only through 
the glass — mature age. The world is beautiful, it has 
been good to me, far better than I have to it. And 
above the world’s goodness is His who made it. I have 
tried, so far as my erring judgment went, to live the life 
of a Christian. The Lord in his loving kindness will open 
to me the gates of eternal joy. The Lord is merciful to 
a poor tired soul like myself, who has done so little good 
in the world.” 

Soon as he ceased speaking I nudged Mr. Anderson, and 
whispered, 4C Stand a little closer so your wife cannot see 
my bare leg.” 

He did not understand, and I was on the point of re- 
peating my request when Mr. Buncom spoke thus : “ Cap- 
tain, before my breath goes out like the sun behind a 
mountain, I have but one request to make. I know it is 
much to ask but you have been my best friend — ” 

A big tear fell upon my knee. Heavens! there stood 
Mrs. Anderson, leaning upon her husband’s shoulder weep- 
ing bitterly, and looking down upon my bare leg. I thought 
the end had come, for Mr. Buncom showed no signs of 
life, but presently he muttered something unintelligible. 

“ What is it, Mr. Buncom ? ” 

Pie continued to mutter for about three minutes, then 
he rose almost straight up. I prevented him from falling 
back, and said, “ Captain, if you ever reach home, will you 
see that Imp has all the kidney medicine she wants? ” 

“ I will,” replied I, between sobs. 

“ Good-bye, Captain ; farewell, dear friends, I am going, 
and beyond is God.” 

He smiled and fell back in my arms, dying as he had 


Death of Mr. Buncom. 


24T 


lived, a true Christian. At the end of his long voyage I 
know that the Lord welcomed him. The following day 
we buried him beside Mr. Levy, and by his request before 
dying, planted an evergreen at the head of his grave. I 
should have had his name, etc., inscribed on Levy’s Monu- 
ment, but he had expressed a wish not to mar the wall 
with his name. I mended my pants soon as possible. Mr. 
Sanborn made me a suit of buck-skin, on which I wore gold 
buttons of the size of a California slug. With my new 
suit on Mr. Anderson said I looked like a dude. 


248 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XXIV. 
bahwahgun's man of war. 

While we were off shooting fudyicks and attending to 
the last rites of Mr. Buncom, Bahwabgun and his warriors 
had skinned the serpent killed last, leaving on both head 
and tale. In its stomach was found the remains of the 
savage who took my place as body-guard. From the other 
serpent skin they had made four canoes, each thirty feet 
long and five wide. These' were designed to form portion 
of the fleet — Bahwahgun’s Invincible Armada. During 
the time I have referred to, they were remarkably indus- 
trious — the first industry they showed since we were among 
them. The remainder of my crew, except Mr. Westman, 
at Bahwahguntown, came over and worked in the forest 
getting out ship timber. We three, Mr. Anderson,- Wilcox, 
and myself rebuilt my cabin, and put on a serpent-skin 
roof. It was the portion left after the canoes were made 
from it. It made a first-rate roof and a good-looking one 
too — black and white as if painted by a first-class house- 
painter. Id shed water good as India rubber. On get- 
ting the cabin in shape again, we went in the woods where 
Bahwahgun was having timber cut. It was two miles 
awa}' over a high ridge, but close to the beach. He in- 
tended to carry the timbers up over the ridge, which would 
be almost an endless undertaking. If the water was nav- 
igable at all I could tow them round with my craft. I 
informed Bahwahgun I could transport them all by water 
while he was taking a single piece on land. He replied 
that I might try it, and wanted it done soon as possible 
for he was in a great hurry to get his man-of-war built. 
Our trio set out in the craft, and reached the spot in first- 
rate shape. Here the water was deep and never rough, on 
account of being almost land-locked. A large rock a foot 
or two above high tide formed an excellent wharf. Ten 
timbers, each a hundred feet long and two feet square. 


249 


BahivaJiguri’ s Man of War. 

were lashed together and east in the water, floating buoy- 
antly. The trees these timbers came from were square 
instead of round. On taking this load over to Shipyard- 
ville and returning we made the boat fast and went to 
examine the peculiar species of tree these timbers came 
from. It was more like the long-leafed pine of the south 
and redwood of the Pacific Coast combined than any other 
kind of wood, and had a leaf like the walnut. The largest 
tree that came under my observation was ten feet in diam- 
eter, and not far from three hundred feet tall. At the 
hieght of one hundred feet it became smaller — like an eight 
foot square object set upon a ten foot one. Seventy-five 
feet above this it became smaller again — six feet square. 
Fifty feet above this it was four feet square. Forty feet 
above this two feet square, and the remainder above this, 
thirty feet, one foot square. It had a small umbrella- 
shaped top. The savages had started to cut it down, and 
I asked Bahwahgun why they did not fell it. He replied 
it was of no good for his purposes. I examined the scaf, 
three feet deep, and it was full of seams two inches apart, 
looking as if a saw had been run through it. I called Mr. 
Anderson’s attention to it, and he thought it must have 
been struck by lightning. Mr. Wilcox took up the car- 
penter’s axe, lying close by, and began chopping at the 
scaf to show me he was a fine axeman. He wielded the 
axe with such vigor, the wood being soft, that at the end 
of half an hour the tree cracked, leaned down hill, and in 
a few moments crashed upon the earth. When it began 
cracking I started to run, and by the time it fell I had 
reached the boat. It was a foolish thing I did running the 
direction the tree fell. Presently Mr. Anderson called me. 

“ What do you want ? ” I asked. 

“Come here.” 

I went, expecting to see nothing more than a tree lying 
on the ground where it would remain till decaying away, 
giving nourishment to other trees. Instead of seeing what 
I had expected, I beheld a pile of lumber as if just coming 
from the saw. The top lying toward me, was the first to 
attract my attention ; it was a timber one foot square and 
of the length I have mentioned. Below this were inch 
boards twelve inches wide. Next six by sixes then four 
by fours and last two-inch plank twenty-four inches wide. 


250 


Captain Kiddle. 

Here was more plank than we had got out for our boat, 
with a year’s hard labor. At the sight of so many feet of 
plank smooth as if coming from the planer, the thoughts 
of blistered hands and an aching back made Mr. Anderson 
swear several round oaths, the first I had heard him use 
since his rejuvenescence. On being aware he had broken 
one of the commandments he looked frightened as well as 
sorry. At my right, by Mr. Sanborn’s axe, a tree crashed 
to the ground. I went to see if there was anything ex- 
traordinary about it. The butt portion, four feet square, 
fifty feet long, lay in timbers of one foot square. The next 
hundred feet, three feet square, consisted of shingles. It 
seemed to me enough shingles lay upon the ground to 
shingle every cabin in Shipyardville. Above the shingles 
were several thousand lath. A savage felled a tree, at 
which Bahwahgun growled. I knew by his gestures and 
jabbering he was denouncing his subject as being “stupid 
as an ass,” as we often say. I went to learn the cause, 
and strewn over the ground was siding and flooring. The 
flooring, tongued and grooved, was smooth and glossy as 
if varnished. While figuring up the number of feet of 
flooring, Mr. Harry felled a tree a short distance behind 
me. A great number of sticks, balls, and I do not know 
what not, flew up in the air. A ball precisely like we 
play croquet with struck Bahwahgun on the head, and he 
dropped to the ground in a heap. A croquet mallet, for 
such it was, struck Mr. Sanborn on the head, and a tuft of 
white wool dropped which the ball had torn loose. I 
looked up to see if anything had marked out my fate and 
beheld a mallet going end over end ; behind it came a 
handle. With the sound like the clapping of one’s hands, 
the handle struck the mallet and dropped at my feet. 
Before falling to the ground every mallet was handled. 
However, an odd handle dropped upon the masthead and 
stood up straight, where it remained long as the boat 
lasted. 

“Captain, do you ever play croquet?” inquired Mr. 
Wilcox. 

“Yes, sometimes.” 

“ Say that we have a game.” 

“ All right.” 

He smoothed down the surface and cut a wire like vine 


251 


Bahwahgun' 8 Man of War. 

which made first-rate arches. We began playing. Mr. 
Wilcox was so superior that I was “skunked,” as he called 
it. I would not admit it. The only person I ever 
thought skunked was the savage who killed and carried 
home the pole-cat. We played another game at which I 
did a little better. Am sure I should have won the next 
game had it not been ended by Mr. Sanborn felling an- 
other tree which sent forth a shower of billiard cues. I 
looked for the balls and even a billiard table to drop, but 
was disappointed. 

“ What shall we do with all these cues?” inquired Mr* 
Wilcox, picking up his arms full from the croquet 
ground. 

“Nothing as I know of,” I replied, taking up a cue and 
thrusting it in the leaves at my feet (I stood a few paces 
without the croquet ring.) With it I unearthed some- 
thing white which I thought a deer’s antlers, but found it 
was a tusk of ivory. Bahwahgun having got up growling 
over his sore head, saw the tusk, took it up, and said, 
“ Little slave, so small as to escape the sight of sea ser- 
pents, fudyicks, balls and what not, this is mine, of which 
I shall make a club to slay the enemy.” 

Replied I, “ Bahwahgun, great chief, so large that ser- 
pents crawl after him, fudyicks fly at him, and balls strike 
him, it is yours with pleasure.” 

“ Captain,” said Mr. Anderson, with a tusk over his 
shoulder, like the one I found, and a dozen cues under his 
arm, “ let us go home and make a billiard table. From 
this ivory I can make balls. Here are cues, and with the 
help of the carpenter we can make a table of gold and have 
a billiard parlor aboard the Lucinda.” 

“ A first-rate proposition.” 

Bahwahgun wanted the other tusk, but Mr. Anderson 
would not give it up. 

“ Captain, what do you think of these trees? ” inquired 
Mr. Wilcox. 

“ If they grew not for man’s use man grew not to use 
them.” 

“ How much sooner we could have built our boat from 
material like this,” said Mr. Anderson. 

“ Yes, and it is really too bad that we did not make use 
of them.” As these trees grew they converted themselves 


252 Captain Kiddle . 

in lumber, billiard cues, croquet sets, and so on, the reason 
of which I am not at all able to explain. Did each saw- 
like-cut seam, indicate a year’s growth, like the rings of an 
ordinary tree, or was it a freak of nature ? This peculiarity 
adapted itself to this species of tree, and I think it is in ac- 
cordance with the laws of nature, like a sour apple tree pro- 
ducing sour apples. We took in tow as large a load as be- 
fore, and were a long while in reaching home as hardly any 
wind prevailed at all. Mr. Anderson, on sawing the tusk 
into blocks, a little larger than a billiard ball, made first- 
rate balls from them on rubbing them upon the stone on 
which I destroyed my razor. While the carpenter tried to 
make a table from gold, Mr. Anderson worked in the forest 
in his stead, and learned that on the completion of the man- 
of-war, I was to sail with it and the remainder of us to be 
left behind. This was important information, and I will 
tell shortly how we were benefited by it. The carpenter 
could not beat out the gold smoothly for the bed of the 
table, and suggested we ought to find a suitable piece of 
marble, but the legs could be of gold. We searched along 
the river banks for a piece of marble of this description, and 
at length found just what was wanted on the opposite side 
of the river across from Levy’s Monument. In due season 
the slab was mounted upon legs of gold. The serpent skin 
was split to proper thickness and made excellent cushions. 
Mr. Anderson pronounced the table first class. He and Mr. 
Wilcox spent so much time in playing billiards I wished 
the cues had been so many whips in the hand of a task 
master. When we began towing timbers again I fell over- 
board and would have drowned had not Mr. Wilcox come 
to my rescue and swum ashore with me. Often I think 
there must have been a great deal of mermaid about him. 
He could swim, dive and tread water be}^ond comparison. 
I owe my escape from slavery through his gallantry, the 
circumstance of which I will relate presently. At length 
we towed all the timbers over and ship-building began in 
earnest. A hull two hundred feet long and forty foot beam 
was soon constructed. Over this was placed the sea-serpent 
skin. The neck projected beyond the bow fifteen feet and 
then curved upward like that of a swan’s. The great jaws 
wide open were painted red, and from between them the 
tongue protruded one-third its length. Artificial green eyes 


Balnvahgun s Man of War. 


253 


were placed in — the whole presenting a more horrible spec- 
tacle than a Chinese dragoon. The tail extended astern for 
twenty-five feet, and the horn stuck out of water its entire 
length. It was propelled with twenty five pair of oars, 
two men at each oar. It had two decks and several state 
rooms. The four canoes were carried upon the upper deck. 


254 


Captain Kiddle, 


CHAPTER XXV. 
bahwahgun's brilliant victory. 

Within a few days, soon as the final sea-serpent feast 
was over, Bahwahgun and five hundred warriors were to 
depart for the land of their ancient enemy. We, members 
of the Purple X organization, were busy in gettinga quan- 
tity of provisions over from Shipyardville to the furnace, 
and deposited it in the cavern. We had a good supply of 
torchwood on hand, as we intended to descend the shaft 
and try to get through by the tunnel to the other side the 
mountains. Mr. Anderson with his wife and child were to 
embark in the Lucinda and sail thence. If we were not 
there within three weeks’ time he was to return, and if the 
savages were not hostile over our attempt to escape, wait 
in the neighborhood of Shipyardville for three weeks. If 
we did not turn up in this time, or no tidings came of our 
whereabouts, he was to set sail for the land of his wife. 
Here were six weeks he was to wait for us at different 
points. Surely, within this period of time, we ought to 
show up somewhere if alive. We had transported every- 
\ thing needed except our arms, and returned for them. 
When ready to leave our cabin I gave it a prolix look which 
I intended for a farewell one. There was something about 
it, I can not say exactly what it was, that made me regret 
to leave it behind. It is said that a prisoner on long con- 
finement in his cell, which becomes a sort of home, ex- 
periences about the same sensations as myself, in leaving 
the prison. Mr. Wilcox and Anderson passed out doors, 
the former singing a lively song and the latter whistling as 
lively an air. With rifle over my shoulder, revolver about 
my middle, and hunting knife in my bootleg, I stepped 
forward, but ere I reached the threshold beheld a great 
spear in Bahwahgun’s hand poised at my breast. At this 
unexpected sight the rifle dropped from my shoulder, ex- 
ploded, and the bullet lodged in the wall behind me. 


Bahwahgun s Brilliant Victory. 255 

“What means this, little slave ? ” demanded Bahwah- 
gun, who gave a whoop at the discharge of my rifle. 

“ Bahwahgun, great chief, we are only going down the 
shaft to explore the mine.” 

He took me up by the coat collar, the same as when 
first becoming acquainted with him, and carried me to his 
cabin. There he tied a rope round my neck. I was afraid 
he intended to personate Judge Lynch, and called on Mr. 
Anderson for help. Then Bahwahgun assured me he 
meant no harm. He gave the rope to one of his wives 
and she held fast to it. I could go to my rope’s end and 
that was all. The women folk — all of Bahwahgun’s 
wives, made fun of me — especially one who opened her 
mouth and acted as if she wanted to swallow me. It 
angered me. I drew a revolver and really intended to 
make one of my remarkable shots, but the Amazon fled and 
I saw nothing more of her. The one having me in charge, 
number nine, went a-calling on Mrs. Anderson and took 
me along. I trotted on behind like a poodle and it made me 
feel terribly cheap. When we got to the house the lady was 
gone. We turned about and I went on ahead, the length 
of my rope. She jerked the rope once, and for a moment 
or two I thought my neck was broken. On returning, 
Bahwahgun took me aboard his man-of-war and showed 
me my quarters, which were astern. The room was twelve 
feet square. Floor was covered pretty much with small 
grass mats and walls decorated with different colored 
grasses. A running vine in one corner, growing from an 
earthern jar, ran up the wall and across the ceiling. The 
vine was aromatic ; it and my amaranths made the air very 
odoriferous. The savages began laying in a large quantity 
of serpent meat, about one half the last serpent’s carcass, 
vegetables and bread stuff. It seemed to me they never 
would finish. Tramp, tramp, they went, athwart the deck 
the night through. Then came a brief pause — they were 
breakfasting. I attempted to go ashore, but four savages, 
my guard, stopped me. Mr. Anderson stood upon the 
deck of our craft, which lay almost up against the man-of- 
war. 

“ Mr. Anderson,” said I, in tones low as possible for 
him to hear, “if you see a good chance during my absence, 
spread sail and bid farewell to Kiddle Island.” 


•256 Captain Kiddle. 

“ Not without you, Captain,” came a loud reply, which 
reached Bahwahgun’s ears. He came forward and roared, 
“ No talking allowed ! ” 

My guard came. I tossed my memorandum to Mr. An- 
derson for him to carry to civilization, that it might de- 
rive some knowledge about the North Pole. I had given 
up all hopes of ever returning again. 

“ Good-bye, Mr. Anderson, and should you live to reach 
civilization, give that memorandum to some responsible 
person interested in North-Pole explorations.” 

“ Captain, we will stay here till you return, and I know 
you will soon come back all right.” 

The guard ordered me below, but I would not obey. 
Bahwahgun, on seeing my reluctance, contrary to my an- 
ticipations, suffered me to remain up on deck. My entire 
crew except Mr. Westman stood upon the deck of the 
Lucinda. Mr. Sanborn exclaimed u Oh, Massa,” and be- 
gan to weep. It was a hard parting. I have had many 
partings, but this was the hardest one of all. The savages 
.set up a roar like so many wild beasts, their parting song, 
and pushed the man-of-war from ashore. The oarsmen 
began work, and we sped down stream. On crossing the 
bar, where the water is very shallow at low-tide, the sea 
grew rough. The man-of-war was headed southerly, 
hugging shore pretty close. The foot-hills rose straight 
•out the sea and in many places overhung. I discovered 
that Anderson River empties in the sea on the eastern side 
the island, where the foot-hills and meadow land meet. 
The river’s mouth is not wide, hardly wider than the length 
of the man-of-war, but deep. A great many geese and 
duck were on the river. Bahwahgun wanted me to shoot 
at them with a revolver, but I would not do so. I gave 
him a revolver and told him to shoot. He pointed it in 
the right direction, but on discharging it turned part way 
round and shot a savage standing at my side. The victim 
never knew what struck him. Bahwahgun on seeing he 
had shot something was as much pleased and no doubt 
more so than I when killing my first bear. He wanted me 
to cock the weapon again, which I did on removing the 
caps. He pointed it at an oarsman and pulled the trigger. 
The poor savage dropped out of frigh t as if shot dead. Bah- 
wahgun looked disappointed on seeing the supposed victim 


257 


Bahwahgun s Brilliant Victory. 

trying to get up, and gave the revolver back, remarking it 
was no good. The shooting of the savage caused a panic 
among the oarsmen. When they ceased working, we be- 
gan drifting ashore where lie a great many huge gigantic 
boulders. Where the victim lay was a pool of blood. In 
it each savage dipped his huger, and drew it over his fore- 
head, forming a sort of a cross not unlike the hideous mark 
on my forehead. This was an omen of good luck. To me* 
it looked absurd, but it was as liable to bring good luck as. 
the horse-shoe. When each savage had a cross upon his fore- 
head, the body was cast overboard and those not workings 
the oars indulged in a war dance. They consider it good 
luck for one of their number to die a death of violence be- 
fore encountering the enemy. Generally one or more are 
killed, accidentally of course, like a party out hunting* 
when one shoots his comrade mistaking him for a bear* 
deer, and even a jack-rabbit. When night came on a 
light was placed in the head, and a sickly green glare shone 
from each eye. As nothing but water, quite rough, and 
darkneSs were to be observed, I went below and threw my- 
self upon the floor mats, wondering what the morrow might 
bring forth. The wind was astern and we made good head- 
way. After a while Bahwahgun came in and sat in silence, 
which I broke at length by saying, “ Bahwahgun, great 
naval commander, I am sure that we will be victorious.” 

“Little slave, Bahwahgun is sad. Long ago his son 
and a company of young warriors, the same number as I 
have with me, went to fight the enemy, and not one has 
yet returned. He is afraid the sea or a monster has swal- 
lowed them all.” 

“ What sort of a monster do you refer to ? ” 

“ I do not know ; it never harms anybody in the day* 
time. Nobody has ever seen it, but in darkness it roams 
the sea, devouring everything.” 

He must have had reference to the monster or species 
that swallowed us. Like a ghost, making an appearance 
at night-time only, and there must be an affinity between 
it and ghosts. 

“ Your son and his braves, I trust, are safe.” 

“ Bahwahgun knows that they are all dead. Little- 
slave, you shall think the same as I do, or be cast over- 
board. If you have any thoughts contrary to mine, it 


258 


Captain Kiddle. 

would be well not to utter them. Bahwahgun is a great 
man and knows all things.” 

I was now in a position that I could not express a free 
opinion. I went upon deck once in the night, and a regu- 
lar Newfoundland fog environed us. The green headlight 
was hardly visible. On we went without chart, compass, 
or even a star to guide ourselves by. I was afraid we 
might get turned round and land upon our own island, at 
some inhospitable spot. I sought Bahwahgun, who was in 
liis quarters adjoining mine, to inquire into our safety, but 
found him asleep. Then he began snoring, and the way 
he snored a Titan is nowhere. At each breath his door, of 
split serpent skin a foot thick, hung at the top, opened and 
shut, not unlike the valve to a bellows. I did not wake 
him, but went back to my own quarters and tried to snore 
also, and finally gave up in despair. I did not get up very 
early in the morning, as I took a nap after Bahwahgun 
ceased snoring, which was at four o’clock. When coming 
upon deck the fog was more dense, and a drizzling rain 
had set in. A raw, chilly morning it was. The oarsmen 
were keeping up the same steady stroke. Bahwahgun or- 
dered the man-of-war to larboard, about ten points, I 
should think. I thought he issued this order merely to 
show his authority. I could not tell whether we were 
going north, south, east or west. The only directions I 
could have discerned was going up in the air or down to 
the bottom of the sea. It was shortly after noon when he 
ordered the oarsmen to slow up. I heard the roar of 
breakers ahead, and knew that both land and danger were 
at hand. Louder roared the breakers, and slowly we ap- 
proached them. Instinctively I grasped an oar which was 
not being manned at that moment, and attempted to use 
it to steer from the breakers. It was so long and heavy I 
could do nothing with it. The breakers roared at our 
prow and I thought shipwreck inevitable. There were no 
life-preservers aboard, nothing that a person could go 
ashore on except an oar. I wanted something that would 
bear me up, and thought of the door to my state-room. I 
went below and tried to unhinge it, but could not do so. 
The hinges were of steel, made from a spear-head. I ex- 
amined Bahwahgun’s door, and found that the hinges were 
of the same material as the door itself. Two holes had 


259 


Bahwahgun % Brilliant Victory. 

been made through the door, and pieces of skin a little 
larger than an inch rope were put through them and fas- 
tened about a beam overhead. I cut the hinges in two 
with my hunting knife. The door in falling struck my 
left foot, and for a while I thought it was broken. When 
I got over the effect of the injury a little, I tried to take 
up the door, but failed to do so. Not that its weight was 
greater than my strength, but on account of its unhandy 
carrying shape. An object seven feet long, four wide and 
one foot thick (the dimensions of the door) is not at all 
handy for one man to carry. I heard Bahwahgun coming. 
Goodness ! what might he not do with me for this piece of 
malicious mischief. I must somehow manoeuvre to evade 
punishment for this peccadillo. I met him. 

“ Great chief,” said I, with a grimace of pain my foot 
caused, “Profound sleeper! Endymion-like sleeper! 
Snorer more sonorous than a Titan! Builder of a man-of- 
war, in your sleep your door wags like woman’s tongue. 
Door wag too much and wore its hinges in two and fell on 
my foot as I was passing by.” 

This pleased him, but on seeing the hinges had been cut 
with a sharp instrument he became angry and threatened 
to throw me overboard. I went upon deck, and lo ! the 
sun was shining, the sky clear and beautiful. Behind 
were the breakers; we had passed them in safety through 
a pass not as wide as the Golden Gate. Land was close 
at hand, a low, barren island of an area of about one mile 
by three. The prow grounded, and a wave lifted us over 
the obstruction. We entered an estuary, the river was 
hardly wider than the width of our man-of-war, and an- 
chored here. Most of the savages landed, and I did like- 
wise. I named this bit of land Arsenal Island, whose sur- 
face is covered with marble boulders from the size of a 
marble up to ones weighing probably a thousand tons. 
The savages began collecting them in piles. The smallest 
ones collected were of four pounds weight, from that up 
to two hundred pounds, and a few weighing close to five 
hundred pounds. I could not imagine what they intended 
to do with these boulders. If they had done like this in 
New England, it would have meant agriculture, for the 
first rudiment of Yankee farming is to clear the land of 
stone and fence it with them. At length the savages be- 


260 


Captain Kiddle. 

gan tossing the boulders to their comrades on deck. On 
tossing up about eight tons of them work ceased. While 
they were doing this I went to the upper end of the island* 
a long, narrow strip, and here I was appalled at the sight 
of hundreds of human bodies, strewn among the rocks* 
cast up by the waves. I knew by what Bahwahgun had 
told me that these were the remains of his son and war- 
riors. In the hand of a corpse was an ivory war-club* 
which I took and started back. The man-of-war was 
ready to depart, and Bahwahgun called for me to hasten 
my pace. I ran fast as I could over and among the bould- 
ers. When pretty close, I stopped, held the club above my 
head and shouted, “ Ah, Bahwahgun ! ” 

I placed my hat before my eyes, feigningto weep. At 
the sight of the club he gave a mournful howl, and before I 
can tell it was at my side. 

“ Little slave, show me whence this came.” 

I pointed in the direction, which was north. In his 
grief and excitement he ran almost due east. We had 
landed on the west of the island, pretty close to the upper 
end.” 

“ Not there, great chief,” I shouted, running on after 
him as fast as possible. 

“ Where, little slave, where?” he inquired intones of 
grief. 

I pointed out the direction again, but he turned, facing 
the south. 

“ Show me, little slave ” ; this he spoke in mild tones. 

I pointed again, and he placed me upon his shoulders. 

“ Bahwahgun, I am real sorry about your door dropping 
from its hinges.” 

I had considerable difficulty in keeping him in the right 
course. On reaching the first corpse he placed me down 
and went to where I told him I had obtained the club. 
The corpse, between two boulders, was lying face upwards. 
The countenance in a perfect state of preservation, was 
very much like Baliwaligun’s, and this was the remains of 
his son. He took the corpse from between the boulders 
and laid it upon a small clear spot. He knelt beside it 
and lamented himself hoarse. I felt sorry — quite sad — 
and sort of helped him mourn by shedding a tear or two in 
remembrance of Mat Lugent. ‘Most all the savages had 


261 


Bahwahgun' s Brilliant Victory . 

arrived by this time. How they howled ! I do not know 
whether they did it to give vent to grief or to test their 
vocal organs. It may have been both objects combined. 
After the howling was over they began preparations for re- 
moving the dead to the man-of-war. Bahwahgun took up 
the remains of his son and started back. Each savage on 
taking up a corpse departed. There were four hundred 
and thirty-nine in all. In leaving Kiddle Island Balnvah- 
gun’s son had five hundred warriors, and here were the re- 
mains of them all except sixty-one. They must have 
perished amid the breakers in a storm. The bodies were 
placed upon deck pretty close to the prow. It was a 
ghastly sight to behold so many dead bodies in a heap. 
We knew not how long before grim slaughter might add 
our bodies to the heap. W e backed down the river, and 
on reaching the spot where we grounded had to wait 
several hours for high tide. On going through the pass 
we groped our way among many large sunken rocks. It 
was nothing short of a miracle we escaped shipwreck on 
entering. In a dense fog without chart or compass, to 
enter in safety such a port was a feat I never saw equalled. 
On passing the island our course was, near as I could 
judge, due south. The man-of-war with its additional 
burden rode much steadier, but our progress was not so 
rapid. The boulders were piled up in little heaps round the 
deck. This induced me to believe they were part of their 
ammunition, but I could see nothing to fire them from. 
Did the savages mean to hurl them at the enemy with 
their hands ? This seemed preposterous. It was no use 
to ask Bahwahgun for information, as he was so over- 
whelmed with grief as to neglect his duty as commander- 
in-chief. Night came on, and with it the savages’ grief 
augmented. The night was almost as gloomy a one to me 
as when my boy was a corpse aboard the Boreas. The 
morning, though clear, was quite cold. Ice was on the 
oars where spray had wet them. Ice, too, was on the sea 
in small fragments. Far ahead as I could see I beheld a 
white object which I took for a fire, but as we approached 
a league or two nearer I found it to be land — the land of 
the enemy, which I named Koo-Koos’ Land. It was ice- 
bound and snow-clad. The further we went south the 
colder it grew, the reason of which somebody wiser than 


262 ' Captain Kiddle. 

myself must explain. I liad seen this land three years 
previous from the back of a f udyick. The savages brought 
their arms upon deck and sang wild war songs. The oars- 
men quickened their stroke and we almost flew to the 
scene of battle. Along the shore were several black specks 
that seemed to come toward us. After a while we saw 
they were boats full of armed men. At the sight of our 
man-of-war the enemy rested upon the oar, and at length 
turned back. The commander-in-chief harangued and the 
fleet, six boats, came forward, led by the commander. In 
the bow of the boat he stood, clad in a uniform of stars 
and stripes as if made from our flag. He wore a tall white 
hat, a regular stove-pipe. His sharp features and accoutre- 
ments reminded me so much of Uncle Sam that I named 
this notable personage, ruler of the Hyperboreans, Uncle 
Sam. When I speak of Uncle Sam it will be with regard 
to this ruler. In his amazement over our man-of-war the 
color-bearer let the colors fall. Uncle Sam held them 
aloft, the stars and stripes. Was their gonfanon like 
ours, or had they got hold of a flag of ours through the 
wreck of a North Pole expedition, or had a whaler been 
wrecked and drifted hence? Uncle Sam’s boat was, I 
think, one of Bahwahgun’s son’s canoes ; however it was 
the best of the fleet. The remainder were tub-like 
boats almost round, seeming to be made of staves 
from whale-oil barrels. They were wretched concerns in- 
deed ; almost as bad as our navy in comparison to other 
navies. Uncle Sam opened the battle by giving us a 
broadside from half a dozen wooden pop-guns. One of 
the pellets struck me on the nose and made it bleed. This 
was the first and only blood shed on our side during the 
entire battle. Bahwahgun, on seeing I was wounded, 
ordered me taken below, to which I objected and was de- 
termined to “ Fight it out on this line.” I cast a stone at 
Uncle Sam and knocked off his hat. The savages ap- 
plauded, and we received another broadside, which rattled 
against the side of the man-of-war like hail-stones falling on 
a house roof. The savages hurled a volley of stones with 
their hands with terrible result. Three boats were sunk 
and those not killed or seriously wounded swam about 
calling on their comrades to be picked up. One of our 
canoes was lowered to pick them up, but on seeing they 


Bahwahgun’ s Brilliant Victory . 


2G3 


were to be taken by the enemy they threw up their hands 
and disappeared from sight forever. Another volley was 
cast ; two boats and their occupants were swept from the 
sea. Uncle Sam’s boat was the only one left, and on giv- 
ing us a broadside surrendered. We took him and his 
men, twenty in all, aboard as prisoners of war. Thus 
ended the memorable battle. 


264 


Captain Kiddle. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE. 

This was a brilliant victory far beyond Bahwahgun’s 
most sanguine expectations — not a single warrior lost or 
wounded. The enemy was conquered and now at his 
mercy. They could be put to death if it pleased him or 
made slaves of like ourselves. My heart grew faint on 
thinking what might be the fate of the women and chil- 
dren. Would they be tortured to death, or slaughtered 
for the sake of utter extermination of the enemy? On 
landing, we saw their principal fortification — a stone wall 
ten feet high, of loose stone, was built on each side the 
wharf. Behind this were many soldiers armed with small 
pop-guns. When seeing us coming they threw away their 
arms and fled in confusion up the street. It was a com- 
plete rout. This is a peaceful nation, though, knowing 
they possess an enemy which no treaty can bind, it is 
strange they did not fortify themselves. We entered port 
in complete triumph like a foreign power could New York 
city, San Francisco, or any of our sea-port cities. The 
wharf warehouses were of stone, though small, well filled 
with products of the island, such as grain, meats, fish, 
furs, etc. The man-of-war was loaded from them and 
Bahwahgun wanted to destroy the remainder by fire. U ncle 
Sam, who could speak his captor’s language pleaded 
eloquently, and with what little I could say, managed to save 
the supplies. We entered a town, the capital, close at 
hand, which contained not to exceed two thousand souls. 
It was regularly laid out with wide streets, and the build- 
ings were low, one-story high ; however, there was a two- 
story one, the Capitol building. The inhabitants were 
white, men not large but well formed ; women beautiful, 
quite small, and of splendid physique. Among the same 
number of women of any other race I never saw so many 
beautiful ones. One of the most beautiful smiled at me. 
I do not know how she managed to get a glimpse of me at 
all among the savages, but woman’s eyes the world over 


265 


Unsuccessful Attempt to Escape. 

possess the same scrutiny. I acknowledged her smile with 
a low bow, and had I not been so bashful would have made 
myself agreeable as possible. However, since my proposal 
to Mrs. Anderson I am very backward. I learned that 
this young lady in question was sister to Mrs. Anderson. 
Had fortune favored me to reach this island again, I would 
be a married man now, if living. These people treated us 
with much respect, and seemed not at all surprised over 
their capture. I tried to persuade Bahwahgun to depart 
for home as we had now so brilliant a victory, but he was 
invincible. As tribute to spare the town, he demanded 
twenty men, Uncle Sam and deputies, and fifty young 
women for wives. First part of the demand was acceded 
to without the least parley, but the latter part emphati- 
cally denied. These people from time immemorial have 
never intermarried with other nations, so they affirm. They 
have not assimilated like nations of modern times, nor 
deteriorated like those of antiquity. Soon as a superior 
race intermarries with an inferior one it will deteriorate. 
Bahwahgun marched the twenty male prisoners to the 
man-of-war and secured them in my quarters. After much 
choosing from the young women, he got his fifty, among 
whom was the one smiling favorably on me. They were 
imprisoned in his state-room. I gave this young lady in 
question my hunting knife and showed her how to cut off 
the hinges. By motions I made her understand, soon as 
we were at sea, to cut down the door and escape. She 
cut down the door right there, came upon deck, jumped 
overboard, swam down the beach and escaped. Before the 
remainder could escape, they were jostled back to the room 
and guarded by twelve savages. I thought for sure we 
w T ere ready to return now, but when I beheld the town in 
flames I knew differently. In less than an hour after starting 
the fire the entire town was ablaze. It was a sad sight. 
Old men, women and children, and even the flower of 
Uncle Sam’s soldiery stood helpless; they could do no 
otherwise, watching their homes consume. Had they even 
possessed clubs and attacked the enemy I think they could 
have annihilated them. I became wroth and ached to get 
in one of my remarkable shots on Bahwahgun. With a 
dense column of smoke, serpentine-tongued flames, shower 
of sparks, firebrands flying about, an intense heat and a 


266 Captain Kiddle. 

roar the town became an ash heap. From this heap I 
looked for a Nemesis to rise as the Phoenix from its own 
ashes. It was war, not a bloody one, but of waste and 
havoc. When the town was reduced to ashes the inhab- 
itants had fled southward. Bahwahgun announced his 
readiness to return. What a ship load! Five hundred 
and seventy-two souls all told, four hundred and thirty- 
nine dead bodies, and a great many tons of plunder. The 
man-of-war was loaded down completely. Bahwahgun 
hurried me below and confined me in my state-room. It 
was total darkness and almost suffocating, so many of us, 
twenty-one including myself, confined in so small a place. 
I began to asphyxiate, and many were flat upon the floor 
unconscious. If I had not given up my hunting knife I 
might have cut a small hole in the door to admit enough 
air to keep us alive. I became dizzy and fell against 
the wall astern (Bahwahgun’s state-room joined mine 
prowward) and shook it. I tried to knock a hole through it 
with the butt of a revolver, but failed in the attempt. I dis- 
charged a shot at the partition and the suffocating smoke 
made our condition more serious. I felt a whiff of fresh 
air, the bullet had penetrated the partition. How invigorat- 
ing that bit of air was. I put my mouth to the hole and 
drew several deep breaths. Then I fired again and my 
fellow prisoners, those having life enough left to yell, set 
up a howl. Irrespective of the howls I fired four more 
shots and had a hole through as large as my head. It ad- 
mitted light by whicli I beheld above one-half the pris- 
oners unconscious, among whom was Uncle Sam. His tall 
white hat was at my feet and I examined it. The crown 
was a common black powder keg painted white, and brim 
of tin. How did he come by this material ? Certainly he 
must have got it from some wreck. I lifted his head ; he 
got a breath of fresh air which revived him. Soon all the 
unconscious regained consciousness. The wailing from 
Bahwahgun’s state-room had almost ceased, for they were 
suffocating. I must get fresh air to them also. Unless I 
shot above their heads some would surely be harmed. I 
held the revolver high as I could reach and fired its con- 
tents at the partition and made a hole through which I 
could thrust my head. I peered through the hole and in 
the opposite wall was a hole of about the same size. My 


26T 


Unsuccessful Attempt to Escape. 

shots had penetrated both walls. A woman returned my 
knife ; it had been dropped upon the floor. The sea grew 
rough and the prisoners became sea-sick. The spectacle 
my room presented can be realized only by a person who 
has crossed the Atlantic in the steerage, and it full of pas- 
sengers. I kept my face up to the hole and stood it pretty 
well. When it became dark (we embarked early in the 
forenoon) Bahwahgun let me out, for which I was more 
thankful than for any favor he had ever shown me. 

“Little slave,” said the old savage, pointing out the 
North Star, “ go by that star this night and keep the men 
at work.” 

He went below and remained there till daybreak. 
Throughout the night the oarsmen kept at work, and I 
never saw men work more systematically. Regularly as 
eacli fleeting minute passes they made a stroke. The wind 
was favorable, and at daybreak Arsenal Island was sighted 
off our larboard. The breakers were roaring their same 
ominous warning. I went below, cast myself upon a pile 
of plunder and went to sleep. It was sunset when I came 
upon deck. We were close to land which looked strange. 
I did not recognize it as Kiddle Island till seeing the glare 
of the furnace. 

“ Far in the hazy distance 
Of that lovely night in June, 

The flaming of the furnace 
Gleamed redder than the moon.” 

Within two hours we passed the harbor-bar, and were 
soon back to Shipyardville again. A bright light glowed 
from my cabin, and also from Mr. Anderson’s. The man- 
of-war in coming up to the landing struck the Lucinda and 
almost upset her. The noise of the collision brought out 
Mr. Wilcox, who thought the savages were trying to de- 
stroy her. He called for Mr. Anderson, and then every- 
body in Shipyardville came forth. Mr. Anderson, on 
learning that Uncle Sam, his father-in-law, was among the 
captives, demanded his release from the place of incarcera- 
tion, and this Bahwahgun refused. Mr. Anderson, armed 
with the razor-back handsaw and my favorite rifle, went 
aboard and liberated the prisoners. The meeting of Mrs. 
Anderson and her father was very pathetic, and so it was 


268 


Captain Kiddle. 

with several cousins of both sexes, who were among the 
prisoners. The women-folk were taken to Mr. Anderson’s, 
and filled the cabin completely. Outdoors Lib prepared 
them something to eat. They were almost famished, hav- 
ing had nothing to eat or drink for over thirty-six hours. 
A heavy guard was placed around this cabin, and also 
around mine, where the men-folk were quartered. On the 
morrow there was to be a grand jubilee over the victory, 
and, besides, Bahwahgun intended to marry all the female 
captives. Preparations for the jubilee bad already begun. 
Serpent meat was on cooking. I saw the woman that led 
me about like a poodle coming after meat. As she was 
taking meat from the hole, I said : 

“ Madam, do you know that your most excellent lord 
intends to marry all the women captives on the morrow ? ” 

I had to repeat the assertion several times before she 
understood, and then she replied, in broken English : 

“ He will not ; me let them go.” 

I went into my cabin, where Mr. Anderson was, and 
informed him of what the woman had said, in which he 
placed no confidence. Somehow or other I had confidence 
in her, and sent for my crew. (They were all at Ship- 
yard ville except Mr. Westman, whom I hardly recognized 
as one of us, for he had degenerated so.) They came in 
and awaited the chance to escape. The guards were tired 
out, having had little sleep during the campaign. Pres- 
ently this woman came forth with a jar upon her head, 
from which she gave each guard a drink, an intoxicating 
drink. She carried two jarfuls to the guards around Mr. 
Anderson’s house, and then three jarfuls to those around 
mine. The guards sang, rather roared, for a few minutes, 
then grew drowsy, and it was not long before they were 
all fast asleep upon the ground, snoring like their chief. 

Said Mr. Anderson : “ That woman really meant what 
she said, and haL given us a chance to escape, so let us 
improve it.” 

“ Of course.” 

“ How are we to get the captives off ? ” 

“ By our long-boat and those canoes. If we were all to 
embark on the Lucinda we would sink her. They must 
trust to the long-boat and canoes.” 

“ Who will show them hence ? ” 


2(39 


Unsuccessful Attempt to Escape. 

“ Could not your wife ? ” 

44 Yes; but I can hardly bear the thought of separating 
from her.” 

“ Then go with her.” 

“ No, Captain, I will have to remain with you, for un- 
doubtedly many dead shots will have to be made, and re- 
member you are but a remarkable shot. Our ammunition 
is about exhausted, and every shot must do its work.” 

Mr. Wilcox counted the shot-gun cartridges, and there 
were but twenty rounds. T loaded my revolvers and put 
a keen edge on my hunting knife, though I hardly know 
what I did it for. It would be a most worthless warrior 
indeed that I could step up to and thrust a knife in his 
vitals. Mr. Anderson went home, and by the length of 
time he tarried I thought he had given up the idea of try- 
ing to escape. However, he came back just before day- 
break, looking as if he had cried his eyes out, and said : 

“ It took all that time to get my wife to promise she 
would go without me.” 

“ Hadn’t we better postpone it till a more favorable op- 
portunity ? ” 

“No, under no circumstances; for the captive men-folk 
are liable to go up the flume, as we used to call a visit 
from the old pale man in the early days of California, by 
the furnace. The women will be made wives of.” 

It is a custom of these people, and a good one, too, on 
marrying to live together till death ; divorce is unknown. 
A divorce mill would not have a single grist to grind. I 
went over to bid Mrs. Anderson adieu. In that crowd of 
pretty women there was not one, in my opinion, that looked 
as handsome as she. 

“ Captain,” said she, placing her arms about my neck, 
which made me blush, for I am modest, “ you have been 
so kind to my husband, my folk and myself, that you seem 
like one of the family. I am about to leave, together 
with my folk. Should we reach our own desolate little 
island, I want you to come and make your home among 
us.” 

“ Tell him about your sister,” added her husband. 

She hesitated. 

“ Tell me, Mrs. Anderson,” I said, having slightly over- 
come my embarrassment. 


270 


Captain Kiddle . 

“ I have a sister my father says is very beautiful. Do 
you know she cried when a certain person left ? ” 

“ Of course it was over her father.” 

“No, Captain, over you ” (this she whispered in my 
ear); “ were you to propose to her it would not be to a mar- 
ried woman.” 

“ My last request is, never mention that I proposed to 
you. I made such an idiot of myself/’ 

Little Lucinda, now quite a child, woke up, and on 
seeing me exclaimed, “ O Uncle John ” (that is what she 
had been taught to call me), “good-bye, I am going 
away.” 

“ Come, Lucinda, have you not a kiss for Uncle John ? ” 

“Yes, four and this many more,” holding up both hands 
with fingers outspread. 

I took the dear little creature in my arms and she kissed 
me several times with all the innocence and affection of 
childhood. Dear child ! in this uncivilized land, environed 
by such rude elements, she was like a child of our own land 
whose little being is watched over and shielded from every 
danger by godly parents. I do ignore the doctrine that 
we are born into the world full of original sin, so full we 
would make first-rate red paint by dissolving us in a little 
linseed oil. The sin that impoverishes, degrades, and 
finally ruins the soul, if not purged “ in the blood of the 
Lamb,” is self-begot. While contemplating the above, 
which may seem unorthodox to some, Mr. Anderson 
and wife took a farewell leave of each other. There was 
many a deep sigh and suppressed groan. 

In the first rays of morning light, as Aurora unlocked 
night' s ebon gate and swung it open a little ways, Mrs. 
Anderson led the captives forth. I roused up the men 
and they entered our craft. I went aboard, and we were 
all there save Mr. Westman and Anderson. On waiting 
probably five minutes for Mr. Anderson, I came upon deck 
and beheld him sawing a canoe in two with the razor- 
back saw. On sawing the canoes in two, four in all, I 
motioned him to come aboard. He pointed to the man-of- 
war to which he went and sawed off the neck. I heard 
water rushing into it, and it soon foundered, settling down 
to the upper deck. Then he came aboard and said, “Old 
Bahwahgun cannot follow us now.” 


271 


Unsuccessful Attempt to Escape. 

It never occurred to me to destroy his fleet to prevent 
him following us. We weighed anchor and were on the 
point of leaving when I thought of the compass, charts, 
etc., that were left in the cabin. It would never do to 
leave them behind, and I hesitated about going back, fora 
guard woke up from his drunken stupor and looked about 
him. 

“Captain, are you ready?” asked Mr. Wilcox at the 
rudder. 

“No we have forgotten the compass and the like, and I 
am going after them.” 

I trod softly as possible, and fell over a guard. He only 
grunted, and I thought this was an end to the mishap. I 
entered the cabin, took up the instruments, and, horrors ! 
at the door was Mr. Westman, at whose side stood Bah- 
waligun. The chief roared in a voice which sounded like 
the thunder. Then sounded the trampling of feet : the 
guards were up. Our attempt to escape was unsuccess- 
ful. 


i 


272 


Captain Kiddle. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

CONDEMNED TO DIE. 

I was much surprised at Mr. Westman’s conduct — a 
traitor. “Mr. Westman, I did not think you capable of 
such treachery.” 

“ Captain, I have an old grudge against you, and swore 
I would get even somehow or other. Your grandfather’s 
first cousin defrauded my grandmother’s uncle’s third 
-cousin, who died without issue, out of a valuable estate in 
the Connecticut valley. This distant relative intended to 
make my father his heir, and had it not been for this 
piece of rascality I might be worth something to-day.” 

“Little slave,” roared Bahwahgun, “tell your men to 
come out that boat.” 

He led me outdoors, and I beheld five hundred warriors 
in a phalanx around the cabin. 

“Now will you escape?” sneered Mr. Westman, point- 
ing to the warriors. 

“ Call those slaves forth,” roared Bahwahgun, standing 
over me with uplifted club. 

“ Men,” said I, “you had better come ashore.” 

They obeyed except Mr. Wilcox who, with a piece of 
cane-brake in hand, jumped overboard and several bub- 
bles came up near where he disappeared. I thought he 
had preferred death by drowning to death by the fur- 
nace. The boat began drifting out, a breeze caught the 
sails, and she sped down-stream. 

Bahwahgun’s indignation over the captives’ escape was 
great, spoiling his fifty weddings. He had on his wed- 
ding suit : my purple blanket with the epaulettes still on, 
Mr. Sanborn’s silk hat and a pair of new sandals. Three 
hundred and thirty-nine savages went aboard the man-of- 
war, and took therefrom the bodies found on Arsenal 
Island, to cremate them in the furnace. They believe, all 
those who fall in battle or in the cause of war, unless 
cremated, are forever barred from an hereafter glorious 


Condemned to Die. 


273 

as our heaven. Orders were given, and we started for 
the furnace. 

“ This will be a day of general roasting,” said Mr. Ander- 
son, breaking the silence, “ and I suppose we will have tt> 
try a little of it ourselves. Well, man is born to die;, 
death comes to everybody sooner or later. If in early life,, 
we escape the miseries of existence ; if in middle age, we 
have tasted what little pleasure the world gives ; if in old 
age, we have forgotten the pleasures, and like a rickety old 
clock are glad that our weights have run down. This time 
to-morrow earth will know us no more. I will be forgot- 
ten by all except my wife and child. She may mourn a 
few months, conclude it a foolish thing, and marry again. 
My child would learn to call the fellow in my shoes 4 father/ 
Well, if such should be the case, I must be contented.” 

Mr. Sanborn had remained silent, when suddenly he began 
bellowing as I never heard him do before. 

“ What is the matter now ? ” I asked. 

“ O, Massa, I got no clothes to see de Lord in.” 

Mr. Anderson laughed outright, which made the unhappy 
darkey cease for a few minutes. Lib, thinking we were 
going over to Bahwahguntown (I did not tell him where 
we were going on asking me), appeared happy. Mr. Mor- 
risey, at my side, shed a few silent tears, and then said : 

“ Captain, there is only one thing on earth that would 
save us from our impending doom.” 

“ What is that ? ” 

“ The Golden Rose from the Pope.” 

We passed on in silence. I wished myself in as good a 
grave as Mr. Buncom’s, then the horrors of death by which 
we were to die would be over. In the morning sun Levy’s 
Monument looked beautiful, not as if it was keeping vigil 
over the dead, but the living. I scented the odor from the 
rose-tree and amaranths. To-morrow at this time would 
my soul be among ever-blooming flowers in that far-away 
land, the home of the soul, or in the regions of dark de- 
spair whose entrance is guarded by never-sleeping Cerberus? 
Buncom Falls did not seem to roar so loud and deep, and 
seemed to be chanting our requiem. The iris-colored 
spray was brighter than usual. I gazed at the wonderful 
sight so long as it was before us, for I expected never 
more to behold it. Through the tunnels our torches 

18 


274 


Captain Kiddle. 


burned uncommonly bright. On that mysterious journey 
to the land of shades, would I have as bright a light to 
guide my weary self along ? I looked upon the boiling, 
surging river and almost seemed to see old Charon, clad in 
about the same sort of attire as the savages, with long 
white hair and beard, with surly countenance, coming 
across the river in a leaky boat to take our souls to the 
world of shadows. The footprints of the fleeing captives 
were distinct in the sand below the lower tunnel, and Bah- 
wahgun ordered fifty braves after them. Why he did not 
do so before I do not know. Mr. Anderson was much 
alarmed, and so was I, for we knew how fleet-footed the 
savages were. Should the captives reach the long-boat 
and canoes, which still might be all right, their escape 
was certain, as no person could penetrate the grass very 
far along the river banks. Here I will mention that the 
warriors came back without overtaking them. They would 
have done so had they been half an hour sooner. At the 
stream spanned by the foot-bridge we rested half an hour. 
Mr. Morrisey was foolish enough to drink a large quan- 
tity of water, hoping it would overcome the heat of the 
furnace and he would thus escape death. A number of 
fudyicks had scented the corpses and were circling above 
us. 

Said I to Mr. Anderson, “ Do not shoot any of them un- 
less to save our own lives.” 

44 You have your hunting-knife? ” 

44 Yes, and ’tis sharp too.” 

44 You with it and I with the razor-back saw can keep 
them off.” 

4 * If ordered to shoot, only half-cock the arms.” 

We had not all crossed the stream before a fudyick 
swooped down on a savage carrying a corpse, and rose with 
them. 

44 Slaves, kill that fudyick,” shouted Bahwahgun. 

Mr. Anderson leveled his rifle, Harry the shotgun, and I 
a revolver. 

44 Shoot, slaves,” roared Bahwahgun. 

44 Great chief, our guns will not go off,” said I, pulling 
with all my might on the trigger. 

Bahwahgun tried in vain to discharge my revolver, and 
then tried Mr. Anderson’s rifle. 


Condemned t) Die. 


27 5 


u Slaves, what is the matter with them?” lie roared. 

“ Great chief, they are angry because you are going to 
burn us. If you will agree to let us go they would get 
good-natured and go as good as ever.” 

“ If fudyicks devoured my last warrior I would not let 
you go.” 

There were six fudyicks; five took that number of 
corpses and three savages. The last one came at us. I 
made a pass at it with my hunting-knife and struck Mr. 
Morrisey in the shoulder, though not inflicting much of a 
wound. Mr. Anderson, with a sweep of the razor-back 
saw, cut away its merry-thought. It rose high in the air, 
and from it blood fell in little streams. Presently it fell 
and struck a savage on the shoulder. By the way his arm 
hung, I thought his collar-bone was broken. At last we 
came to the furnace, which was unusually active, and its 
heat more intense than commonly. We captives stood by 
ourselves, with weapons in readiness to sell our lives dearly 
as possible. The savages also had theirs in readiness. 
Presently a savage departed, and after a while he was seen 
in Anderson’s Gulch, on his way to Bahwahguntown. 

The flames died away. 

“Now for our roasting,” said Mr. Anderson. 

Not a savage stirred. The flames came forth and sub- 
sided after half an hour. 

They are waiting for something,” remarked Mr. Harry, 
who spoke for the first time since leaving Shipyardville. 

After two hours’ time the messenger returned, bringing 
along Mrs. Westman and children (there were two chil- 
dren now, the second one a female of about two months.) 
Mr. Westman greeted his wife with a grin, and said, 
“Alley, I have good news ; Bahwahgun’s son is dead, and 
I will become chief on the death of Bahwahgun.” 

She made no reply. 

“Alley, are you not glad? Why don’t you speak? 
How is Alley Nellie May?” meaning the baby. 

He attempted to take the infant from her arms, but 
she pushed him away. 

“ Alley, what is the matter? ” 

“ You are all the same as dead,” she replied at length. 

“Alley, what do you mean? Come here, Bertie,” ad- 
dressing his oldest, but the little half-breed ma<de wry 


276 Captain Kiddle . 

faces and went to the messenger, who had just taken 
the infant from its mother’s arms. 

“I shall not permit such familiarity,” said Mr. West- 
man, going up to the savage, who gave him a kick in the 
ribs and sent him headlong upon the ground. 

Bahwahgun drew two lines in the dirt about a foot apart ; 
the messenger toed one and Mrs. Westman the other. 
Bahwahgun said something in a low tone, nothing short 
of a roar, and the messenger placed a foot to Mrs. West- 
man’s mark and she her foot to his — he toed her mark and 
she his. Then they protruded their tongues and touched 
them together three times. 

“ Captain, do you know what that means ? ” asked Mr. 
Anderson. 

44 Of course not.” 

44 Well, that is a marriage ceremony. I went through 
the same nonsense when I got married. I rather think 
she has soured on Westman.” 

44 It looks that way.” 

Just then Mr. Westman began calling, 44 Alley, oh Alley* 
my dear wife ! ” 

44 You have no wife,” remarked Mr. Anderson. 44 She 
and the savage who kicked you have just got married.” 

44 It is not so,” he wailed, 44 for Alley thinks too much 
of me.” 

Bahwahgun gave him a prod with his spear and growled* 
44 Get up you traitor.” 

44 What f Bahwahgun, that is a hard name to call me, on 
doing you such a favor — betraying my comrades to you.” 

44 There is where the trouble lies. You have made a 
traitor of yourself, and at the first opportunity you would 
betray me.” 

44 Never ! ” he replied, with a wail. 

44 It is my custom, and so it has been of my ancestors, to 
put to death by the furnace every traitor among us.” 

Mr. Westman sprang to his feet, came to where we 
were, fell upon his knees before me, and begged for me to 
try to save his life. 

' 4 Why did you betray us ? ” 

44 Captain, I hardly know myself ; it was very unjust* 
for which I am sorry and would not do it again for all the 
chiefships in the world.” 


Condemned to Die . 


277 


“ Then you did it for political honor ? ” 

“ Yes, if you consider it such.” 

“ Awa} r , traitor ! ” said Mr. Anderson, with stern mien. 

“Away from here!” I ejaculated, “or I will give you 
one of my remarkable shots.” 

“ Have I no friends?” the traitor moaned, as he turned 
from us. “ My comrades, wife and children will no longer 
recognize me.” 

The flames had now died away, and fifty bodies were 
cast in the firehole. Bahwahgun seized Mr. Westman. 
A savage transfixed him on a spear the same as Jack, and 
balanced him over the hole. The victim’s howls were ter- 
rible. I never heard anybody howl and entreat for life the 
way he did. He called and called on me for help. At 
length I went behind a boulder to get out of his sight, 
where I remained till hearing the roar of advancing flames. 
The shrieks ceased as the flames shot upward, and thus 
ended the traitor’s mundane career. The flames roared 
away for an hour, and on dying away fifty bodies more 
were cast in the firehole. 

Bahwahgun pointed to me and said, “ Now, little slave, 
we will see how much smoke you will make.” 

“If you attempt it, I shall shoot the first one that stirs 
in his tracks.” 

“ Your guns are of no account ; they will not go,” sneered 
Bahwahgun, getting behind a boulder and ordering twenty 
savages forward. Ere they took the second step Mr. An- 
derson’s deadly rifle, Harry’s shot-gun, Hannah’s, Mor- 
risey’s, and Jackson’s Winchesters added five to the pile 
of corpses. The savages howled in dismay and attempted 
to flee, but Bahwahgun checked them, and they came for- 
ward. 

“ Captain,” spoke Mr. ‘Harry, “you, Mr. Sanborn and 
Lib make haste for the shaft and wait for us in the 
cavern.” My men fired another volley and down went 
the same number as before. To leave my men fighting 
looked too much like playing therdle of a coward. “ Wait 
till I get in a remarkable shot,” I replied. 

The savages had surrounded us completely. One great 
brawny fellow crawled up behind the carpenter, who like 
myself, was no fighter, too frightened to fire a shot, and 


278 


Captain Kiddle. 

was about to thrust a spear through him, when I jumped 
forward with a revolver in my trembling hand. 

“ Don’t touch him,” I said, my teeth chattering so I 
could hardly speak, “ or I will shoot.” 

The savage made a pass at me ; the spear went over my 
left shoulder and he fell at my feet with mouth open. With 
the muzzle of my revolver well down his throat, I made 
another remarkable shot. At the time I thought nothing 
more of it than had I shot a bear. I do not consider it 
murder, for I killed my antagonist in fair fight. We were 
now in close quarters — a hand-to-hand combat. Mr. An- 
derson with his razor-back saw stood by himself slaying the 
enemy with as much ease and rapidity as if he was Sam- 
son with the jawbone of an ass. A savage slipped up be- 
hind him and was ready to bring down a club on his head, 
when at that moment Mr. Sanborn darted forth and re- 
ceived the blow on his own pate. The club flew in frag- 
ments, and the heroic Sanborn never flinched the least. 
Lib as usual set up his howl and crawled toward the shaft. 
They did not seem to want to hurt him. Certainly they 
had chance enough, for he crawled through their ranks. 
He managed to reach the shaft in safety, and slid down it 
followed by a shower of loose stone, which I feared had 
ended him. Close to the shaft was a large boulder. When 
the fight was thickest I crawled under an edge of it and 
was no sooner in my place of refuge than the body of the 
carpenter fell close beside the boulder. He was killed by 
a blow on the head. I drew the remains under where 
I was, and they concealed me from view. By the number 
of bodies falling to the ground I knew the carnage must 
be great. All of a sudden the firing ceased and it became 
quiet. 

“ My comrades must all be dead,” I said to myself. 

If I was sure they were dead, I would come out and 
fight till I expired, for it seemed to me to be better with 
them in death than all alone in life. A savage thrust his 
spear in the carpenter’s body to make sure he was dead. 
I was so small that I escaped his observation. My watch 
ticked so loud I was afraid it would be heard, and I stopped 
it. My heart seemed to beat louder than the ticking of 
my watch. I would have stopped it also had it been under 
my control. The wounded groaned and shrieked around 


Condemned to Die. 


279 


me. Then the roar of the flames went above the cries of 
distress. I counted fifty wounded in front the boulder, 
and I do not know how many more there were. Those 
wounded in the body were cast in the firehole soon as the 
flames had died away. The} r consider a gun-shot wound 
fatal if in the body. It seemed cruel to treat the wounded 
so, but it was far better for those mortally wounded, than to 
linger for a while suffering the agonies of eternal torment, 
and die at last. When all the bodies, those my men slew 
and those found on Arsenal Island, were cremated, most 
of the savages left. The few that remained watched at 
the mouth of the shaft. It grew dark and the furnace 
blazed, lighting up a large area, which prevented my coming 
from my place of concealment. At last the flames became 
defunct. I crawled forth and was down the shaft a few 
steps when a large stone cast by a savage knocked off my 
hat. The next moment the report of a rifle sounded, and 
the body of a savage bounded over me. Mr. Harry had 
done a little sharp shooting. 


280 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE KIDDLE LODE. 

I descended into the cavern, where I found Mr. Jack- 
son unconscious from a blow on the head with a club. 
Brains oozed through the fractures in the skull. The 
wound was, of course, fatal. We could do little or nothing' 
for him. Mr. Anderson had received a spear thrust 
through the calf of the left leg, and had the wound bound 
up. Mr. Hannah’s right shoulder was nearly broken by a 
stone cast at him. Mr. Harry and Morrisey and Sanborn 
escaped uninjured. Lib, in slipping down the shaft, sprained 
an ankle and complained much. 

44 It is a dear victory,” said I, 44 for two of the crew are 
slain.” 

44 A dearer one for old Bahwahgun,” replied Mr. Ander- 
son. 44 1 estimate he lost above two hundred killed and 
wounded. There would have been many more had our 
ammunition held out. Captain, I saw many chances for you 
to make a remarkable shot, and the best of them was on 
the savage who banged Jackson. I called you several 
times and at last concluded you had fallen.” 

Mr. Jackson became conscious and called for water, but 
there was none to give him. He raved for a short time 
and then became silent — silent forever. 

44 What can we do with the remains ? ” asked Mr. 
Morrisey. 

44 Why not cremate them,” I suggested. 

We concluded to do so. The furnace was in action now 
and after I read the burial service Mr. Morrisey and 
Harry took them up, the moment that the flames died 
away. 

44 Wait till you hear the flames coming,” I said, for it 
seemed hard to cast the body into the firehole, which may 
be almost bottomless. On the return of the flames the 
body was dropped and consumed as all the rest had before 
it. The deceased was a noble-hearted man, sober and in- 


The Kiddle Lode . 


281 


dustrious. He had expressed a wish that his remains 
should be cremated if dying on the island, and we had 
done in accordance with his wish. We had enough provi- 
sions in the cavern to last for a month, and torch wood for 
lights about that length of time. We were safe here, but 
our great trouble was the want of water. The savages at 
the top the shaft made it too dangerous to leave the cavern. 
The slightest noise we made caused a volley of boulders to 
come bounding down. Throughout that night and the 
following day they guarded the shaft, and left at dusk. 
Probably they thought us all dead, as we had remained 
silent during the day. We could not have held out much 
longer as we were famishing for water. Mr. Hannah and 
Morrisey each with a back load of provisions started down 
the shaft. Mr. Anderson and I went next. He carried 
the ship’s instruments, armed with the razor-back saw. 
All guns were left behind as the ammunition w^as ex- 
hausted. Mr. Sanborn and Harry came after us each with 
an arm full of torchwood. Lib with half a dozen torch- 
wood sticks came on behind. Mr. Hannah nor Morrisey 
never noticed the snake’s head — of which I have spoken, 
cut in the solid rock overhead — or the flashing objects rep- 
resenting eyes. 

“ What diamonds ! ” said I. “ Mr. Anderson, which 
one will you take ? ” 

“ This one.” 

He was on the right-hand side. Mr. Anderson and I 
stopped, and after nearly two hours of cutting and prying 
with my hunting knife, took the diamonds out. They 
were larger than an ostrich egg, the shape of one, and of 
the first water ; far superior in every respect to the best 
Brazilian stones. 

“ They are worth millions,” said I ; “ and what do you 
intend to do with yours ? ” 

“ Have it made in jewelry. And you with yours ? ” 

“Wear it on my shirt bosom.” 

As I have stated, the fork representing the snake’s 
tongue, divided the shaft in two compartments — one for 
descending and the other for ascending. We kept to the 
left, the one to descend by. On going down about two 
hundred feet we reached old workings ; the ore was 
“stoped” out. _ The hanging wall, smooth and regular 


282 


Captain Kiddle . 

as if the work of man, saw supported by massive stone 
pillars, similar to those in a Mexican mine. The ore body 
was over three hundred feet thick, and how miners man- 
aged to put in pillars of that height, pitching at an angle 
of fifty degrees, is for a mining engineer to explain. I 
knocked a small knob of ore loose from the foot-wall, and 
it was the same character as that in the cavern — lead-silver. 
Down we went. This vast ore chamber extended down 
for four hundred feet and then pinched to the thickness 
of a knife blade. At the right a tunnel led off, which we 
followed for eighty feet, and then came to the ascending 
sha'ft. Here we made a small fire and roasted some meat, 
which we could not eat for want of something to quench 
our thirst. Mr. Anderson went in search of water, return- 
ing to the descending shaft, down which he cast a stone 
and heard the splash of water. We were almost as glad 
at this discovery as at the first sight of Kiddle Island. 
Mr. Anderson took up a bucket to go after some water, 
and I admonished him to be careful. He thought there 
could be no danger, as the steps were in excellent condition. 
I went out to the shaft and cast a stone down it, and the 
splash indicated water within fifty feet. The steps seemed 
as solid as the day they were cut out. Mr. Anderson de- 
scended probably a dozen steps, when his feet flew from 
under him, the torch gleamed like a continuous streak of 
fire, and the next moment came a loud splash. I did not 
wait for a voice to come out that Stygian hole, but rushed 
back and told what had happened. Mr. Sanborn was the 
first to reach the shaft, and shouted “ Halloo down dar, is 
dar any water? ” 

“ I should think so,” came a voice out of the gloom, 
“and cold as ice, too.” 

“ Mr. Anderson are you drowning? ” I asked. 

“ Not quite; water is up to my chin, and I am standing 
upon something solid. How am 1 ever to get out? The 
foot-wall is smooth, never had any steps cut in it.” 

“ How is he to get out ? ” I asked myself ; “ we have no 
rope, and there is nothing to make one of.” 

“ Captain, I am chilling to death.” 

“ There is nothing I know of to help you out with.” 

“Take your coat” (a buckskin one) “and cut it in 
strips.” 


The Kiddle Lode. 


28S 

My coat was off my back and soon ripped apart. From 
the largest piece Mr. Morrisey ran out a continuous strip, 
which was half long enough, and the remainder was made 
from the other pieces. I threw down the line, Mr. Ander- 
son tied on the bucket, which by good fortune had not 
sunk, and it came up two-thirds full. This gave us all a 
good draught. I cast down the line again, and Mr. An- 
derson came up. If this was water level there was no 
chance of escape, for the other shaft would be the same as 
this. On drawing another bucket we went back to our 
provisions, ate a hearty meal and enjoj^ed a first-rate sleep. 
The air was warm and entirely free from cold damp. Af- 
ter our nap and another meal, we descended the shaft very 
cautiously, expecting to come upon water. We were now 
fifty feet below water level in the other shaft. This one 
was dry and still going down. The reason I advanced, 
which I think is a true one, why water was in the other 
shaft, is that waste in coming down the shaft had filled it 
up so that it was water-tight, and this water was from the 
surface^ — rain water. We descended and descended, and 
at last reached bottom. A tunnel twelve feet wide and 
eight high led off due north. In some cases we found 
it caved partly full, and at other places much obstructed 
with waste that had come down from the stope. In one 
place it was so full we had difficulty in squeezing through. 
We came upon several picks and shovels with handles rot- 
ted entirely away. Mr. Anderson took along two of each 
kind of tools, saying they might come handy, and so they 
did before going much further. We came upon a place 
caved entirely full. Mr. Anderson began pulling down 
the waste. Hannah and Morrisey threw it back. It was 
a big undertaking, and on working for ten hours there 
were no signs of an end. Lib and I did not do much, and 
announced our willingness to do the cooking. This met 
the approval of all. We started back for a bucket of wa- 
ter. The way seemed endless, but at last we came to the 
water shaft. I lowered the bucket and drew it up, fearing 
to trust Lib, as he might lose it. On starting back, I car- 
ried the bucket to the descending shaft, when Lib took it. 
I went ahead, so his way w'ould be well lighted. Soon he 
set the bucket down to rest himself. Of this I was un- 
aware, and was down perhaps twenty steps, when I heard 


284 Captain Kiddle. 

the bucket strike a step, and the next moment every drop 
it seemed to contain dashed down the back of my neck, 
nearly sending me headlong. Lib was so frightened he 
dropped his torch, which struck me on the head, igniting 
my hair, scorching it off short at the base of the skull. 
Lib made an attempt to come down after the bucket, and 
trembled so I was afraid he might come down upon me, 
I started back and he scrambled up the shaft. It took 
quite a while to convince him that I considered it an accL 
dent. When we got to the bottom we found the bucket 
battered out of shape, and with several holes through the 
sides and bottom. I dreaded to return to my comrades, 
knowing they were thirsty, as the removing of the waste 
created a great deal of dust. We crept back, and it was 
a glad surprise to see that a way through the waste had 
been cleared. The men were on the other side, and I ex- 
pected their first words would be an inquiry for water. 
Such was not the case, for on the left side the tunnel, in 
a trench ten feet deep and one wide, gushed a stream from 
beneath the waste, that had covered a subterranean spring. 
On the left the stream were chambers, ten by twelve feet, 
with seven-foot wall, hewn out the live rock. Undoubtedly 
these were miners’ dwellings. There were one hundred of 
them in all. Here the formation changes from lime to 
granite and slate, and properly the Kiddle Lode begins 
here. With this change of formation the ore changes from 
lead-silver ore to free milling gold quartz. Here the lode 
is four hundred feet wide, of soft brownish quartz. I ex- 
amined a large pillar of quartz, and it seemed one-half 
gold. I broke loose a mass of about a hundred-pound 
weight ; it rolled down into the tunnel, and on striking 
the bottom broke in fragments, among which were fifty 
pounds of coarse gold. The quartz is free from sulphates, 
and I suppose the finest of any in the world. After a 
brief examination of the workings, I learned that the mine 
is not at all dug out. We went on; the lode was of the 
same magnitude. The stream got larger, for many small 
ones trickled down each side the tunnel. This was water 
level. As we went on, the lode presented the same condi- 
tion, stoped a little here and there. We had travelled at 
least fifteen miles, when I ordered a halt and camped. 
Here was another series of chambers, and- more numerous. 


Statue and City of Polaris . 285 

Just beyond the last one were the remains of a sled, on 
which were two round iron buckets, four feet across and 
five high. These were full of quartz of over seventy-five 
per cent. gold. It was gold properly with a little quartz 
in it. There were no bales on these buckets, and I won- 
dered how they were hoisted. Mr. Anderson thought the 
tunnel must come out on the mountain side, and no hoist- 
ing was done. We camped in one of the chambers, and in 
a corner were the skeletons of two human beings almost as 
large as a savage’s. Mr. Hannah and I took up quarters 
in another chamber. Mr. Anderson spread his blanket 
before the skeletons and went to sleep. Using torchwood 
for cooking soon reduced our supply to almost nothing. 
Heretofore we had burned two lights, and sometimes three. 
This had to be curtailed to a single light. We had light 
for only twenty-four hours more. On starting we walked 
as rapidly as possible for five hours, making not less than 
twenty miles. This entire distance the lode maintains 
a uniform thickness, pitching east at an angle of about 
sixty degrees. It seems strange how the hanging-wall 
supports itself — suspended four hundred feet above the 
tunnel’s bottom. In many places the lode is stoped out 
for hundreds of feet square. There was no ore broken 
that would not yield above fifty per cent. gold. Taking 
the whole lode through, it will average above twenty-five 
per cent. gold. Almost innumerable millions of dollars’ 
worth of gold yet remain to be taken out. If King Solo- 
mon worked this lode, it is strange his entire temple was 
not of gold. . We came to another sled with four empty 
buckets upon it — going after a load. A short distance 
ahead we heard a roar like the flames of the furnace, and 
thought it another ignivomous concern. A cloud of steam 
filled the tunnel. By this we knew there w*as water con- 
nected with it. Soon the steam became so dense we had 
to stop till it cleared away sufficiently for our light to 
guide us on. After a ten minutes’ walk we came to the 
end of the tunnel, and also of the lode, which is cut off 
square by a belt of marble running east and west. 

“ What are we to do now ? ” we asked each other. 

“ Turn about and go back,” I said at length. 

“ That would never do,” remarked Mr. Anderson. 
“ We might as well stay here and starve to death as to 


286 Captain Kiddle. 

return and give old Bahwahgun the satisfaction of roast- 
ing us.” 

A dense cloud of steam coming forth ended the confab. 
A rumble followed, and we beheld a column of water, al- 
most at boiling temperature, shoot up at our right. It 
was another geyser. The steam gradually cleared away. 
In the center of a cavern hewn out of the marble, a little 
larger than that of the furnace, we beheld a column four 
feet in diameter ascending with great force. Around it 
were many of these iron buckets. 

“Do you know what this has been?” inquired Mr. 
Harry of me. 

“No.” 

“Their hoisting works. These buckets, if I am not 
much mistaken, are sent up by the force of the water. 
Soon as it ceases spouting I am going to get in a bucket 
and risk my neck anyhow.” 

The Hoisting Works, as I named the geyser, at length 
became inactive. Mr. Harry rolled. a bucket to the hole 
and it settled down two-thirds its length. The brave 
fellow stepped into it, shook hands, and bade us all adieu. 
Steam began escaping, ; a roar followed, and the bucket 
shot upward. We were astonished, and held our breath 
expecting to see the bucket drop back again* At length it 
came down steadily as if let down by a hoisting engine. 

Soon as the bucket settled to its proper place Mr. 
Anderson said, “Captain, we must try it next.” 

To this I agreed after the rest had refused to go up with 
him. 

He lifted me into the bucket and then got in himself. 
This time the Hoisting Works were idle for nearly an hour. 
Steam began coming, and we shouted good-bye to all. Up 
we went as if aboard an hotel elevator, and with a rapidity 
that almost took away my breath. We made over six 
thousand feet in fifty-five seconds. We received consider- 
able jar when the bucket came from the hole, as it went 
ten feet above the surface and dropped. 


Statue and City of Polaris . 


287 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

STATUE AND CITY OF POLAKIS. 

WE were across the mountains and at an elevation of 
about two miles above sea level, making it quite cold. 
Considerable snow lay on the ground. Immense quantities 
must have been here few months previous, for large drifts 
yet remained in shaded places. We were in a depression 
in the mountain which may have been at some remote 
age the crater of a volcano. Before us were great lava 
beds rising almost as high as the granite peaks behind us. 
There was hardly any timber. A species of scrubby tree, 
like the nut pine, grew to the height of twelve or fifteen feet 
and was almost all limbs. Water from the Hoisting Works 
ran to the left down an artificial course of cut stone. 
Originally it ran to the right and emptied in a small lake. 
Streams gushed from the granite side in many places, some 
fed by melting snow, but most were perpetual. The 
ground was full of water — sloughy. The whole at one 
time must have been the bed of the lake, and I think this 
was before water from the Hoisting Works was turned 
from its natural course. Undoubtedly this made the lake 
shrink to its present dimensions. The Hoisting Works 
belched forth a continuous stream forty-eight inches in 
diameter, eighteen hours out of twenty-four, which it 
averages, which would of itself in a short time form a good- 
sized sheet of water. When the column began failing Mr. 
Anderson rolled the bucket to the hole and dropped it. 
Mr. Harry and Anderson went toward the lake while I 
waited for the remainder of my men to come up. I felt the 
greatest anxiety about Lib. Maybe I should have re- 
mained till the last one, but, as I have said, nobody else 
would venture with Mr. Anderson. I left orders for Mr. 
Hannah and Morrisey to come up together, that is, soon as 
they could muster enough courage. I knew Lib would be 
safer in Mr. Sanborn’s care, and ordered him to bring the 
Mongolian up when he came. I heard the hiss of steam* 


288 Captain Kiddle. 

and up came Mr. Hannah and Morrisey. They were much 
frightened, and said that the Hoisting Works needed a 
brake, for the speed was too fast for safety. They reported 
Mr. Sanborn had started down the tunnel after Lib, who 
ran back on learning he was to go up. I hoped Mr. San- 
born would succeed in bringing the Mongolian up, for 
should he be lost we would have to do our own cooking. 
This time the column played for a short season and resumed 
activity that much sooner. I heard a shout, one of Mr. 
Sanborn’s wild shouts, and amid the steam I got a glimpse 
of a black object with hardly any clothes on, and then Mr. 
Sanborn leaped from the bucket and said, “ Massa, am dis 
lieben ? ” 

“Why, I guess not; and why are you in this almost 
nude condition?” 

“ Massa, dem ar’ clothes ob mine ar’ wolf skin. De good 
book says so much ’gainst wolves I knew dat de Lord 
would not like to see me in dar skins.” 

4 Where is Lib?” 

“ He runned ’way like I used to from ole massa down 
souf.” 

I had a great mind to go down after the Mongolian, but 
my men deemed it imprudent for the reason that the 
Hoisting Works were too mutable. The next time after 
Mr. Sanborn came up the column ascended hundreds of 
feet in the air and burstedasif a quantity of dynamite had 
been exploded in it. We were wet through, and fortunately 
the water was not very hot or we would have been scalded 
to death. The miners must have had a way of curbing 
the force of the geyser when it got in one of these moods. 
The column still ascended, and it was no use to look for 
Lib to come up, and we went to take a look at the lake, 
which is a beautiful sheet of water, three miles long by two 
broad, very deep, clear as water can possibly be, cold, a few 
degrees above freezing point. On the south is the granite 
mountain, north, lava beds, east, high lime-stone bluffs, and 
west, low, marshy ground. The lake, seemingly tranquil, 
possessed a mysterious current that drew various objects 
towards its centre. A short way ahead of us was a piece 
of ice moving from shore which went slowly at first, and 
the nearer it approached the centre the faster it went till 
disappearing. We beheld several fish, that must have 


289 * 


Statue and City of Polaris. 

been large, near the centre, leaping out of the water, 
and pretty soon we could see nothing more of them. I 
thought they were on a frolic or pursued by some kind of 
monster that preyed upon them. Large flocks of geese 
were along shore, and on flying shunned the centre, either 
lighting ahead, behind us, or on the opposite side close to 
shore. Mr. Harry, an excellent stone thrower, cast a stone 
and broke one’s wing. The flock rose, lit on the opposite 
side, and the wounded one fluttered along after it. Suddenly 
it stopped and tried to get back to shore again. Despite its- 
desperate struggles and numerous quacks it was being 
borne toward the centre and soon went from sight. 

“ This must have a subterranean outlet,” said Mr. 
Hannah, on seeing the fowl disappear. 

“ It seems that way,” replied I, “ and this is the first I 
have thought of it.” W e overtook Mr. Anderson and Harry, 
and they also had noticed the mysterious current. 

“Captain,” said Mr. Anderson, “do you know what 
this is ? The reservoir of Buncom River ; that is, the river 
flowing over Buncom Falls. I have named this Reservoir 
Lake.” 

“ Those Falls must be over forty miles from here.” 

“ That is no distance for water to flow.” 

This theory seemed feasible, and yet I was in doubt. I 
had as good reason to believe that it supplied the Hoisting 
Works. Mr. Anderson found a piece of driftwood and 
sawed both ends square (he still carried the razor-back saw) 
and cast it adrift, saying it might find its way to the ocean 
by the subterranean channel and over the falls. Having* 
Mr. Buncom’s spectacle case with me, I w'rote on a leaf 
from my memorandum thus : 

“Oye mysteries, solve this riddle 
By returning this to Captain Kiddle,” 

put it in the case, made the case fast to the end of a stick 
and cast it in the water. I no more expected to see it 
again than I expect to meet Adam face to face and ask him 
if the sea-serpents are akin to the serpent that beguiled 
his fair consort. Mr. Anderson left with an opinion that 
this was the source of Buncom River, which is correct, and 
I that it supplied the Hoisting Works. We gathered up 
some wood and made a fire ; we were to remain here for 


290 


Captain Kiddle. 

two days, hoping that Lib would come up. Mr. Sanborn, 
the only sensible one among us in this respect, loaded the 
provisions in the bucket he came up in. We kept up a 
roaring fire as it was cold. When the sun disappeared it 
grew cold so sudden that it seemed as if we were turned 
out of a warm house on a midwinter’s night. The night was 
colder than any we had experienced since landing. Some 
time in the night wild beasts came and carried away all 
our provisions. They must have been bears, for bear 
tracks were seen almost everywhere. Mr. Anderson wanted 
me to go with him on a bear-hunt, but I dare not go. I 
made an excuse saying my anxiety about Lib’s safety was 
so great I wanted to remain in camp watching his appear- 
ance. Mr. Harry went in my stead, and at dark returned, 
bringing with them four young fudyicks and half a dozen 
of their eggs. I was in doubt whether I should order Mr. 
Sanborn, now cook, to cook the birds. Mr. Harry said he 
would eat of them and an egg or two to get even with the 
parent birds for eating human flesh. The birds were nearly 
full-fledged, and Mr. Sanborn prepared two of them, and 
on roasting them till midnight, pronounced them done. 
They were yet tough — a barn-owl would be nowhere. The 
eggs were baked in hot ashes till I thought they were 
done hard, in fact burned up. We could hardly break the 
shells, and on getting one broken a young bird came forth, 
hissed and ran off. The fire had no more effect upon 
it than had it been a Salamander. All the eggs with the 
exception of one were in the same condition as the first. 
Soon as they got out their shell two of the birds began 
fighting. One came from an egg Mr. Anderson broke 
open and the other from mine. I bet a ton of gold on 
mine and Mr. Anderson the same amount on his. This I 
think is the largest bet ever made on any fighting match. 
At length mine vanquished his and somehow or other I 
did not feel much the better for my large winning. We 
began on the birds and on pulling out a front tooth in try- 
ing to tear some flesh from a,bone, I gave up, and pretty 
soon they all did the same. Soon after retiring some sort 
of a wild beast came pretty close. Mr. Harry cast the car- 
casses of the birds at it, and in the morning we saw they 
had not been disturbed from where they fell. We had 
given up all hopes of Lib, and at daybreak started down 


291 


Statue and City of Polaris. 

the mountain, following the stream from the Hoisting 
Works. Its course was like a large irrigating ditch ; sixfe^t 
on the bottom, four foot walls flaring, and eight feet across 
the top. Mr. Anderson stopped to examine it and said it 
was a mammoth sluice box, that the quartz in passing down 
it dissolved itself by illision, and that the gold was carried 
on further. I could not dispute this as I am no miner. 
However, I had an opinion but did not express it. A broad 
road led along the ditch. In many places it was in poor 
condition, gullied wide and deep. We crossed the gullies 
on the banks of the ditch, and presently both road and 
ditch were obliterated, probably by a land-slide from a 
spur round which they passed. About three miles further 
down we came upon the road and ditch again. The land 
was quite flat here. Passing on a little further we saw 
stones sticking up from the ditch’s bottom to the height 
of a foot, and that far apart, pointing a little up stream 
(when there was a stream). Mr. Anderson said they were 
riffles to catch gold with. Between some of these riffles 
was a great deal of gold. We went due north down the 
road and on going about twenty miles in all, went into 
camp. A thick fog that overhung the sea and lowlands 
all day came over us, and a drizzling rain set in like a 
California mountain mist. 

Here we found but little wood, and our fire went out for 
want of replenishing. At length we were wet to the skin, 
and shivered with cold. The road crossed the ditch with 
an arch similar to a railway culvert. Mr. Anderson ad- 
vised us to seek shelter in it. This we did with alacrity, 
and he stopped the upper end with a stone. He remarked 
that this reminded him of his lodging in railway culverts 
in passing from San Francisco to Chicago. This did not 
augment my good opinion of him, for it was an almost 
positive declaration that he had tramped from one of these 
cities to the other. What little bedding we had was wet, 
and it did not ameliorate our condition much. At last 
we shivered ourselves to sleep. It was a fitful nap to me, 
as my rheumatic arm pained, and so did my rejuvenated 
leg above its rejuvenesence. It was not very long before 
I woke up almost strangled with water pouring down my 
throat. I was lying on my back, and undoubtedly with 
my mouth open. The next moment all hands were swept 


292 Captain Kiddle. 

from our quarters. A heavy rain had fallen higher up the 
mountain. On being swept down several rods, while in 
transit being rolled over many times, I managed to crawl 
out half drowned, though saving my bedding and ship’s 
instruments. Mr. Anderson came in search of me, and I 
rebuked him severely for taking us to such lodgings. He 
minded it not at all, and remarked he had slept in a thou- 
sand different railway culverts and such a thing never 
happened him or any of his chums whose names he began 
calling. The fog had cleared away and stars endiademed 
the midnight sky. We tried to collect fagots for a fire, 
but what little we found were water-soaked and would not 
burn. We set forth, for it was more comfortable walking 
than to be shivering in our wet clothes. When I began to 
perspire freely, I did not feel very uncomfortable, and my 
comrades did not complain much. Just before the break 
of day we had ascended near to the summit of a hill above 
a thousand feet high, where grew many large trees. 
From a dead one lying upon the ground Mr. Anderson 
sawed several limbs, which were placed against the trunk, 
and in no time we had a warm fire, which dried our clothes. 
W e took a nap, and I woke up just before noon. Mr. Ander- 
son had been out foraging, and came in with a gobbler 
and two dozen turkey eggs. Mr. Harry killed the fowl 
with a stone while Anderson was hunting eggs. Be- 
fore Mr. Sanborn began to roast the eggs I had him break 
one open, and it was fresh. Mr. Anderson said if he had 
had one of my revolvers he could have got a deer, and I 
told him he should have taken one from my belt. We had 
a first-rate breakfast. As game was abundant, we con- 
cluded to tarry here a day or two. Our camp was within 
three hundred yards of the summit, to which Mr. Harry 
and I went to see how far the ocean lay at the north, and 
also to take an observation. I knew that this was about the 
location of the North Pole. We reached the summit and 
beheld a sight that astonished us more than anything we 
had } r et seen. On the crest of a hill, of about the same 
elevation as the one on which we were camped, a little 
to the west, not one half mile away, was a statue two 
hundred feet tall, mounted upon a pedestal of five hundred 
feet. We hastened thence, and on arriving at its base, I 
saw that the pedestal was of silver, one hundred feet 


293 


Statue and City of Polaris . 

square and of the height of which I spoke. Upon this 
rests the statue — four female figures in one — one facing 
the north, one the south, one the east and one the west. 
The right hand of each points straight ahead, and the left 
hand upward. This is of gold, fifty feet across, and of the 
height I mentioned already. This enormous mass of gold 
glittered in the rays of the morning sun, and the diadems 
with which each figure is crowned flashed every sheen the 
rainbow contains. The pedestal was blackened with the 
un polishing touch of time. We searched in vain, trying 
to find a way into the pedestal, which we thought might 
be hollow. 

“ Do you know what this was erected for ? ” asked Mr. 
Harry. 

“No, unless for ostentation, a display of gold and 
silver.” 

“ It was erected, I am sure, to mark the exact spot where 
they located the North Pole.” 

“ That’s so.” 

I took an observation and placed the North Pole exactly 
in the centre of the pedestal. This prehistoric race had a 
thorough knowledge of geography. As we were about to 
start back, the remainder of my men came up. Mr. An- 
derson, with an avaricious mood on just now, said we 
ought to build another boat, one large enough to take the 
statue home with us. I informed him we would need the 
Great Eastern and several more like her. 

Mr. Sanborn, on admiring the statue, said, “ Cap’n, dat 
am de Golden Calf, sure.” 

A fudyick lit upon the arm pointing south, and there 
was a clamorous noise from an eyrie of young birds in a 
hollow back of the heads. Mr. Anderson brought down 
the fudyick with a shot from my revolver, and also a dia- 
mond, larger than those we got out of the shaft, from the 
crown of this figure. He took possession of it and wanted 
to fire at the crown, but I would not tolerate such vandal- 
ism. We camped two days at the base of the statue, 
searching for an entrance, as within it must be sealed the 
archives of this prehistoric race. Had we possessed 
proper tools, we would have cut our way into the centre, 
despite it seemed a solid mass. How many thousand tons 
of silver it ipust contain ! The statue, if solid, would lift 


294 


Captain Kiddle. 

Russia’s national debt, with an abundance left. The 
statue complete would make a banking capital that could 
•control the money market of the world. On resuming our 
journey, we took a road leading north-east, which was 
sandy a short distance ; then we came upon a course ten 
yards wide paved with gold. The sand we had just passed 
through covered up this course. The paving blocks, a foot 
square, were considerably worn in places, undoubtedly by 
the hoofs of horses and wheels of chariots. This was, I 
think, their race-course. It was of mild declivity for five 
miles, and then came a level plain, which was swampy. 
Water from the Hoisting Works had poured down here 
probably since the overthrow of the kingdom. A great 
many mounds like those in Bahwahguntown were visible 
above the mire. This was once a city of almost fabulous 
dimensions, above fifty miles square, and I estimate it con- 
tained a population of ten million souls. We would have 
spent a month exploring the ruins had it not been so miry. 
Once I fell in a soft spot and went out of sight except a 
hand, by which Mr. Hannah rescued me. We were trying 
to reach the largest of the mounds, which I considered 
ruins of the royal palace. The ground was so treacherous 
that we could not possibly reach it. A great many rep- 
tiles amid the mire kept us in constant alarm. With our 
brief exploration of these ruins we did not obtain the 
slightest information concerning those that built the city, 
which I named Polaris City. At the west lay several 
white hills of about the height of Statue Hill (this was the 
name I gave the hill upon which the statue stands), which 
-sustain but little vegetation and no timber at all, being com- 
posed wholly of marble. We set out for these hills, and as- 
cended a slight elevation, then came upon a level tract, 
once tilled, and more fertile than Bahwahgun’s farm. A 
great many mounds, maybe ruins of farm houses, rose above 
the grasses here and there. Wild oats were as abundant as 
if every scapegrace had sown his here. In crossing this 
tract I stepped upon a sea-serpent, like those we killed, 
which was a young one, forty feet long. It took its tail in 
its mouth, formed a hoop, and rolled toward the marsh. 

“ Ah, if St. Patrick was only here ! ” said Mr. Hannah. 

“ What would he do ? ” I asked. 

“Sure, he would banish every snake and reptile the 
same as from Ireland.” 


Statue and City of Polaris. 295 

“ Do you believe such nonsense ? ” inquired Mr. Harry. 

“ Indeed I do, and it is more feasible than the yarn you 
Americans set forth that George Washington never told a 
lie.” 

This aroused Mr. Harry’s quick temper, and he wanted 
to fight. I settled the matter peaceably by saying that 
the Saint and Patriot were both great men, but doubted 
the absurd stories told of them both. The grasses grew 
tall almost like those along Anderson River, and after a 
while we had to cut our way through. Mr. Anderson 
used the razor-back saw and I my hunting-knife, on which 
was a sort of sickle edge, full of fine nicks. We camped 
at night amid this grass and none of us slept at all, fear- 
ing an attack from sea-serpents. By noon the next day 
we had cut our way through, and a furlong above us was 
an excellent roadway running the same direction whence 
we came. We went into camp beneath a projecting mar- 
ble bluff. Game was plentiful, which was killed by a 
stone from Mr. Harry’s hand or a shot from Mr. Ander- 
son’s revolver. We were tormented by a large species of 
rat, larger than a full-grown cat. It has a long tail with 
which it defends itself. One struck me across the hand 
with its tail, on trying to corner it up, and my hand was 
cut open as if a muleteer had struck me with a black 
snake. And I saw two of them fighting; one struck the 
other over the back, cutting its antagonist completely in 
two. 


296 


Captain Kiddle . 


CHAPTER XXX. 

LOSS OF THE LUCINDA. 

The rats harassed us so that we moved our camp fur- 
ther up on the hill, where they did not molest us at all. 
They must be a sort of musk-rat, for they live on land and 
in water. In front of where we first camped there is a 
slough, containing a great many of their houses, like those 
of the common musk-rat. Here we were to tarry for 
three days, and then make our way over to Paradise 
Valley, where we intended to build a boat if possible, and 
escape to Koo Koos Land. Mr. Anderson affirmed he was 
reluctant to leave, till after finding that petrifying pool 
of which his wife spoke. He wanted me to assist in the 
re-discovery of it. I tried to convince him it was a myth, 
but he would not listen. On the morning of the second 
day he, Mr. Hannah and Morrisey went out in search of 
it, passing down along the hills. Mr. Sanborn, Harry and 
I remained in camp. Mr. Sanborn to mend his clothes, 
Harry to do some laundrying, and I to rest myself. After 
an absence of half the forenoon Mr. Anderson returned, 
placed something upon my head and told me not to re- 
move it. 

“Massa am king, sure,” said Mr. Sanborn, showing 
the whites of his eyes more than usual. 

I took the object from my head ; a crown ! the Imperial 
crown of France would be as chaff when compared to the 
value of this one. 

“ Where did you get it ? ” I asked, holding the crown 
with trembling hands. 

“ Come, and I will show you.” 

Mr. Sanborn wanted to see how it would fit his pate, 
as he expected to wear one in the hereafter. I gave it to 
him and started after Mr. Anderson, who almost ran. I 


Loss of Ihe Lucinda. 


297 


liad to call him to a halt several times so that I could 
keep him within sight. We went along the base of the hills 
about a mile and came upon a marble-paved square covering 
about two acres, in the center of which was a deep pool 
sixty feet across, and being so clear it did not look three 
feet deep. To my horror I beheld Mr. Morrisey lying on 
the bottom with a stony cast of countenance. I was 
ready to plunge in and rescue him, when Mr. Anderson 
seized hold of my shoulder, gave me a violent jerk as if ex- 
tremely angry with me, and said, “ My God, Captain.” 

“ Mr. Anderson, I take this for a premeditated insult.” 

“ Captain,” he went on, shaking with excitement, “ I 
meant no harm ; but do you know I saved your life ? ” 

“ How so?” I asked, my rage mollifying. 

“ Ere this time you would be transformed to stone. 
Morrisey is petrified. He stepped into it and sank like a 
stone to the bottom, some water splashed on my little 
finger, and feel of it.” 

I felt and it was like stone ; and the next moment drop- 
ped from his hand. Two drops struck him in the face, 
and two gravels came from the right cheek, the size of a 
pea. 

“ Where is Mr. Hannah ! ” 

“ Poor fellow,” was Mr. Anderson’s reply. 

I gazed in the pool but could see nothing of him. 

“Not there, Captain, but yonder,” pointing out a pile 
of marble close to the opposite side the square. I went 
thence and what a sight ! Both his hands had dropped 
off at the wrist ; nose and cheeks were also gone. He had 
washed his face and hands in Medusa’s Pool (this was the 
name I gave it). He seemed in no pain at all. 

“Captain,” said he shortly, “wish I was where Mor- 
risey is. I am now a helpless cripple for life.” 

His amputated members were hard, like so much mar- 
ble. I picked up a hand with my thumb and finger. I 
felt a slight sting, and dropped the hand. A thin, stony 
scale came from my thumb and finger, taking off the 
skin. Mr. Hannah, in utter despair, made his way back 
to the pool and intended to plunge in it. I ordered Mr. 
Sanborn, who had now arrived wearing the crown, to take 
him back to camp. The poor unfortunate fellow went 
back weeping. It would have been for the best had he 


298 


Captain Kiddle. 

plunged in the pool, for his injuries soon began causing 
such pain that he went into spasms, and besides his death 
came a few days afterwards. 

“ Captain,” said Mr. Anderson, “ I am sorry at the 
rough way I handled you ; I was so excited I hardly knew 
what I was doing, and hope you are not offended.” 

“ No, not at all. Had you tried to hinder me by mouth, 
I would not have heeded, and that was the best method 
you could have adopted.” 

“ I am not at all sorry for Morrisey. I warned him, but 
he only scoffed at me. Mr. Hannah was the first to arrive ; 
he would have warned him too, but his tongue seemed par- 
alyzed. What is to be done with Morrisey ? ” 

Nothing ; let him soak. Should we try to get him out 
we might fall in or get some of the infernal water on us, 
and ruin us for life.” 

I looked in the pool again, which seemed hardly deep 
enough to cover Mr. Morrisey’s nose. 

“ How deep is it anyhow ? ” 

“ A hundred feet at least.” 

I could not believe this. He dropped his worn out 
pocket-knife in it carefully, and before reaching bottom it 
was petrified. By the time that the knife took in descend- 
ing I concluded the pool was deep as Mr. Anderson’s esti- 
mate. I got on one of my experimenting fits, and dropped 
a pebble, which dissolved like so much salt. Then I 
dropped a small piece of gold, which became a diamond of 
great brilliancy. I dropped another piece and it also 
transformed to a diamond. This induced me to believe 
that the most essential properties of the diamond are held 
in gold, that on adding and taking certain parts becomes 
a diamond. If all the gold in the Kiddle Lode was im- 
mersed in this pool, diamonds would become so cheap and 
numerous that the poorest laborer could wear them large 
as an ordinary grindstone ; while a lover of diamonds 
could have them large as millstones. So far as we could 
discover, the pool has no outlet. According to Mr. Han- 
nah’s statement the water is lukewarm. And he also 
stated that Mr. Morrisey’s body petrified in a minute. I 
suppose that all others would do the same. I intended to 
return to camp, but Mr. Anderson desired to show me 
whence we obtained the crown. 


Loss of the Lucinda . 


299 


W e left the square by a broad marble walk and ascended 
a steep bill. Before us rose a marble reef, four or five hun- 
dred feet high, smooth and even as a palace wall. By~ 
erosion from ocean waves at the base it was hollowed out 
back for hundreds of feet. At one time, maybe late as the 
glacial period, it formed a part of a rock-walled coast- 
Perhaps the great earthquake heretofore mentioned had 
cast it up high and dry. As we entered this vast chamber 
I beheld the petrified bodies of millions of human beings 
standing close as they could be stood. We walked on a 
ways, and I beheld the petrified remains of nine hundred 
and ninety-nine kings, each upon a throne of gold, which 
rested on a semicircular body of silver four feet high. 
Upon their heads were crowns the splendor of which 
stopped my breath till I gasped. I could say nothing. 
Mr. Anderson ascended the semicircle, sat in a throne 
(there was a vacant one), took the crown from the head of 
the potentate at his right, placed it upon his own head and 
said, “ Captain, who cannot mount a throne and wear a 
crown nowadays ? ” 

I replied not, for I was yet too astonished to speak, but 
at length I managed to say, “ Wonderful indeed ! ” 

With uncovered head I walked before this throng, for 
each face retained that homage-demanding expression co- 
herent to the potentate. The faces of all with the excep- 
tion of two were those of mature age, all wearing long hair 
and beard. A cloth of gold was about the loins, and if 
royal robes were placed on them after being consigned 
here they had decayed away entirely. Before 'this royal 
throng, seated on settles of gold were the remains of 
the royal family, numbering thousands, of all ages from 
the centenarian down to the infant. About their loins 
was a cloth of silver, corroded, and many had fallen apart. 

So far as we passed along this chamber of death it was 
full of petrified bodies — millions and millions are taking 
their final rest here. It seems rather a hard way of rest- 
ing, standing upon the feet. Many a countenance bears 
an expression of fatigue, maybe on account of so long an 
upright attitude. Mr. Anderson, still occupying the throne, 
with an imperial smile said : 

“ Captain, now suppose I am one of these old petrifica- 
tions in a carnal state, how would you address me ? ” 


300 


Captain Kiddle. 

“ I might possibly Mister you and nod.” 

“ That would never do at all. Get up here and I will 
show you how it should be done.” 

With an awkward stride, decidedly unkingly, he left the 
throne, to which I ascended. It was intended for as large 
a bodied person as Mr. Buncom, and longer legged than 
Anderson. With the crown on my head I tried to smile 
imperially, but it was one of mirth, for I beheld Mr. Ander- 
son advancing, kneeling first upon one knee and then on 
the other. At length he threw himself flat and kicked 
along like Bahwahgun getting indoors. 

“O Your Royal Highness!” he exclaimed, in most 
solemn tones. 

“ O Your Serene Highness ! ” then he gave a kick for- 
ward. 

“ O Your Imperial Greatness ! ” (Another kick for- 
ward) 

“ O Your Royal Majesty!” (Two kicks forward) 

I could stand it no longer, and said : “ Stop such damned 
nonsense.” 

“ That is right, Captain,” exclaimed the prostrate form, 
getting upon his feet, “now you talk like an American.” 

I had seen enough of the city of the dead, and replaced 
the crown upon the cold stone brow whence Mr. Anderson 
took it. On getting back to camp Mr. Hannah was de- 
lirious. I could do nothing for him as my medicine chest 
was aboard the Lucinda. However, after two days he got 
better, and on the morning of the third day we resumed 
our journey, going past Medusa’s Pool. I picked up the 
hands of the unfortunate man, intending to keep them as 
a memento — rather a ghastly one. Half a mile below this 
pool we came upon another one, of about half the size. 
The water is dark, thick, almost like crude petroleum. I 
wondered what wonderful power this possessed. A small 
stream ran from it in which I placed one of the unfortu- 
nate man’s hands. Would you believe me, it turned to a 
flesh color, became warm, and the fingers twitched. This 
is ail antidote for petrification and I named it iEsculapius 
Pool. To fully convince myself that it is an antidote I 
took some of this water in my hat, for want of something 
better, and went back to Medusa’s Pool, though much 
against the desires of my men. I dipped the left index 


Loss of the Lucinda . 


301 


linger in the pool, and withdrew it soon as possible, but it 
was already petrified. Then I placed it in the other water r 
which transformed it back instantly. Now I had the satis- 
faction of knowing that Medusa’s Pool is harmless so long 
as water from the other pool is at hand. Had Mr. Han- 
nah known this he might have saved his hands, nose and 
cheeks. While I was gone Mr. Anderson tasted of the 
water, which he said was sweet like honey. He wanted 
me to taste it also, but I was afraid it might transform my 
stomach into a sugar-house or something of that sort. Mr. 
Hannah placed the stumps of his arms in the pool which 
healed them at once. I washed his face and it became 
heated as soon as I was through. We followed down a 
sort of a roadway going almost directly away from Para- 
dise Valley. At length we came upon a cross-road extend- 
ing east as far as we could see. 

“ Men,” said I, “ it makes little difference which way we 
go, for soon there will not be one of us left.” 

“ Captain,” replied Mr. Anderson, “ that is my belief. 
Suppose we try to reach the Siege Gun and bombard old 
Bahwahgun out of Shipyardville, that is, if he is there. 
We might be able to repair one of those canoes I sawed in 
two, and make our escape in it.” 

“Very well.” 

Had we gone to Paradise Valley, the only tools we had 
to build a boat with were the razor-back saw and my hunt- 
ing-knife. We turned eastward, and on travelling six 
days amid ruins and over many miry places that almost 
engulfed us, came to the beach on the east side. Here is 
one of the finest beaches in the world. From it I picked 
up many pearl oysters and filled my coat-pockets full. (It 
was not my coat, but one Mr. Harry loaned me, as he had 
an extra one.) The oysters, big diamond, revolvers, and 
hunting knife encumbered me so that I cast away my bed- 
ding — the big quilt I got of Mr. Anderson. I missed it 
much, and the first night I was almost tempted to go back 
after it. We made good progress till reaching the vicinity 
of the great mountain, and here the beach ends by a spur 
projecting in the sea. It is not more than three furlongs 
across it, but took us four days to climb round it. Mr. 
Anderson carried the ship’s instruments, and let them fall 
over a bluff, they would have been dashed to pieces had 


302 Captain Kiddle. 

they not lodged in the boughs of a pine, and it took two 
days to get them again. On rounding the spur we came 
upon a roadway, which must have passed round close to 
the brink and been washed away by the sea. I thought 
this was the spur Mrs. Anderson had reference to. We 
followed the road for the remainder of the day (it was ten 
A. M. when we came upon it), and at night camped at the 
north of another spur that projects in the sea. There was 
no way of getting round it, for it rises perpendicular. We 
were baffled. The sea lay almost a thousand feet beneath. 
However, below us, not more than fifty feet, was a narrow 
shelf extending along the face of the bluff, upon which 
grew a gnarly cedar, overrun with a vine like we made 
rope of. 

“ We must make that leap in the morning,” said Mr. 
Anderson. 

I had made a more difficult one, and so had Mr. San- 
born. We were a sober crowd that evening around our 
camp-fire, which was not kept burning long. After being 
abed awhile I felt something step upon me, waking me up. 
I looked around, but could see nothing, and dropped off 
to sleep again. It must have been Mr. Hannah in a som- 
nambulistic siate, and since losing his hands he had be- 
come a somnambulist. In the morning he was nowhere to 
be seen, but we observed his footprints on the brink of 
the precipice — he had fallen over in the sea. The tree did 
not look strong enough to sustain our weight. Mr. Harry 
dropped a stone heavier than Mr. Sanborn upon it, which 
_ withstood the force first-rate. Mr. Anderson was to leap 
first, I next, then Sanborn, and then Harry. When Mr. 
Anderson let himself over the brink I closed my eyes, that 
I should not, as I expected, see him dashed to pieces far 
down below me. However, he landed all right. I drop- 
ped over with a yell of horror, came down so quick, and 
landed so easy, that I hardly knew when I struck. We 
were upon a shelf two yards wide and about thirty long, 
and beyond was good travelling. Mr. Sanborn stood upon 
the brink shaking his head. 

“Now, Mr. Sanborn,” said I, “do not come down head 
first or you will certainly go through.” 

“ I must, Massa, ’cause dis head ob mine can stan’ dat.” 

These were the last words he spoke on earth. He came 


Loss of the Lucinda. 


303 


down head first and went through the vine and boughs as. 
if they were of paper. His head struck a rock three hun- 
dred feet below, and he bounded in the air, whirling over 
and over till striking water quite a distance from shore. 
Among the white breakers I beheld a black face that 
seemed to look up at me imploring aid. Poor Mr. San- 
born, though “ black as de ace ob spades,” as he used to 
sing of his Emma Lila, possessed a white soul, one that 
will meet every requirement of heaven. I left the shelf 
and went behind a large tree, where I could weep over the 
fate of my faithful black servant. 

“ O God ! ” exclaimed Mr. Anderson. 

A crash of parting wood came to my ears, which told 
what had happened — the tree had given way beneath Mr. 
Harry’s weight. I heard him and the tree strike the rocks, 
below, and then a splash. Mr. Anderson, weeping like 
myself, embraced me and said : 

“Captain, only you and I are left now.” 

He returned to the shelf, got the instruments, which he 
had cast down before leaping, and we started for the 
Siege Gun. We had a good view of Shipyard ville two 
miles before reaching it. Beyond the harbor-bar we be- 
held the Lucinda with sails set, tacking up the island. 

“ The savages must be sailing her,” said Mr. Anderson. 

“ It seems strange that they should be, but who else 
is it?” 

The man-of-war had been raised and was in the middle 
of the river, full of armed savages, as' also were the four 
canoes. It looked as if they were ready for another expe- 
dition to Koo Koos Land. We ran for the Siege Gun, at 
which we worked half a day. We crept back into the for- 
est and saw nothing of the fleet, but beheld several objects 
floating about in the river, which were wrecks. Every 
cabin in Shipyardville was destroyed as if swept with 
cannon shot. The Lucinda was making for the rock from 
which we towed timbers for the man-of-war. We ran 
thence, and aboard the craft we beheld Mr. Wilcox. 

“Uncle John,” he shouted, “is that you?” 

“ Yes,” replied Mr Anderson for me, as he had stronger 
lungs. 

“ Make haste, for Bahwahgun is coming.” 

He brought the craft alongside the rock and we sprung 


304 Captain Kiddle . 

aboard. When just out of reach of their stones, Bahwah- 
gun and fifty warriors were upon the rock and began hurl- 
ing stones at us. On seeing he could do us no harm, 
Bahwahgun roared, “ Little Slave, you destroyed my man- 
of-war, every canoe, and most of my warriors.” 

44 I will destroy you,” said Mr. Anderson, firing on him 
with a revolver. The ball struck his shield, glanced, and 
killed a warrior at his side. The next bullet brought him 
down by penetrating the left thigh. Two more shots were 
fired, killing that many savages, and our ammunition was 
completely exhausted. 

44 Captain, where are the rest?” asked Mr. Wilcox. 

44 Dead ; and how did you escape drowning? ” 

44 With that piece of cane-brake you saw in my hand 
when I went overboard. I breathed through it, clinging 
to the rudder, till drifting beyond the bar. I had a hard 
time keeping clear of Bahwahgun. I was on my way to 
the north of the island, thinking I might possibly overhaul 
you there, when the Siege Gun began its effective work. 
The first shot struck the man-of-war and went right 
through her. In her and canoes were five hundred war- 
riors. You saw the number with Bahwahgun ; all the 
rest, four hundred and fifty, were killed or drowned.” 

When abreast the bar something dropped upon the deck 
— Mr. Buncom’s spectacle' case. 

44 Are you convinced now that Buncom River comes 
from Reservoir Lake ? ” inquired Mr. Anderson. 

44 1 am.” 

On speaking these words the piece of wood Mr. Ander- 
son cast in the lake, struck just astern. We beheld an 
object coming directly toward us. Before I could deter- 
mine what it was, it lodged against the mast, and lo ! there 
hung Lib by the cue. The Hoisting Works must have cast 
him in the lake ; he went through the subterranean chan- 
nel, and the Siege Gun hurled him thus far. Mr. Wilcox 
cut him down, and at sunset we buried his body in the sea, 
off the south of Kiddle Island. As we were making for 
Koo Koos Land our course was due south. At dusk I 
noticed two fudyicks following us, which I considered an 
evil omen, and Mr. Anderson was of like opinion. Toward 
midnight a fog came from the south, and a rough sea was 


Loss of the Lucinda. 


305 


encountered. We had taken in every sail and set the 
storm-sail. I was afraid we might ground upon Arsenal 
Island and headed south by west. The next day and fol- 
lowing night we kept this course. When the fog cleared 
away we turned south by east. It was a warm, clear 
morning. 1 was in my state-room posting my memoran- 
dum, Mr. Wilcox was at the wheel, and Anderson on 
watch. I heard my name called, and before I got upon 
deck we had struck a sunken rock which wrecked us com- 
pletely. Before I could return to get my diamond, the 
craft sunk. The mast was above water about three feet, 
to which we clung, hoping the deck would rise that we 
might make a raft, but the only thing that came to the 
surface was Mr. Wilcox’s checker-board. The fudyicks- 
flew around us, and one swooped to take up Mr. Wilcox 
who seized its wing, mounted its back and shouted, “ Good- 
bye,” as he went upward and back toward Kiddle Island. 
If he ever reached it, undoubtedly the savages slew him. 
The other fudyick, the largest one, came at us. Mr. An- 
derson seized its neck, held its head under water while he 
mounted its back, and I mounted also. Away we went 
towards Koo Koos Land. After a three hours’ flight we 
saw boats beneath us — the captives returning home. 

“ I am going to jump,” said Mr. Anderson, who grasped 
the bird’s neck and choked it till we came down within 
twenty feet of the surface, when he lost his balance and 
fell. 

“Jump ! ” he shouted soon as coming to the surface. 

I hesitated, but when my mind was made up to do so it 
was too late, for I was high above the waves. 

“ Good-bye,” I shouted. 

He was picked up by the long-boat containing his wife 
and Uncle Sam. The fudyick took me southwesterly, and 
on flying for three da} r s and nights, in which time I suf- 
fered much from cold and hunger, it dropped dead upon 
the deck of a San Francisco whaler. I could hardly get 
off its back. The Captain was very kind, but would not 
believe I had just come from the North Pole. It took a 
year to get a cargo of oil. I got off at St. Michaels, Alaska, 
and remained in the territory for ten years. I wrote 
home, informing the folk of the fate of the Boreas and 


306 


Captain Kiddle. 


crew. On receipt of the information my niece married a 
man named Tack — A Tack Spike wedding. 

Now, kind reader, my story is told; and you will, I 
think, find this a book of remarkable adventures. 


THE END. 



















































































































































































